Olivier Staiger
EF3
March 20, 2013 , a small isolated cell , producing graupel / sleet / snow / wind, made its way across the Jura hills from France into the Lake Geneva area. According to what I found on the web that cell did produce a few lightning bolts in France, north of the Jura. So I got my cam and started filming it, hoping it would still 'produce' once it arrives over Lake Geneva. It almost did not produce... except for one single rogue powerful bolt, which I caught in video. It is in part hidden in the precipitation. This is the only lightning bolt I saw from that cell, that evening.
but the best was yet to come : I learned a few days later that an airplane had been hit by lightning in flight over Lake Geneva that same evening. The airplane was an airbus A319 from Alitalia, charter . On board about 100 people, the entire italian national soccer team 'Gli Azzurri' and staff and italian journalists. It landed safely around 6.30 PM in Geneva. Nobody got hurt but they had some scare over the noise and shake. They got hit , according to what I read , a few minutes before landing. Well, they landed at 6.30, and I saw the lightning around 6.25 , more or less ( the cam's EXIF data shows a different time but I checked it later and realized the cam was not set correctly on time. Re-calculating , I realized I most probably have recorded the lightning that hit the airplane. So I had a closer look, on a bigger screen .. and BINGO ! Indeed, in my video you clearly see an aircraft flying out of the precipitation area where the lightning hit, just a few seconds later.
I will share/youtube the video /videostills in a week ( right now I am tied to a contract of exclusivity with an image agency ). Thank you for your patience.
but the best was yet to come : I learned a few days later that an airplane had been hit by lightning in flight over Lake Geneva that same evening. The airplane was an airbus A319 from Alitalia, charter . On board about 100 people, the entire italian national soccer team 'Gli Azzurri' and staff and italian journalists. It landed safely around 6.30 PM in Geneva. Nobody got hurt but they had some scare over the noise and shake. They got hit , according to what I read , a few minutes before landing. Well, they landed at 6.30, and I saw the lightning around 6.25 , more or less ( the cam's EXIF data shows a different time but I checked it later and realized the cam was not set correctly on time. Re-calculating , I realized I most probably have recorded the lightning that hit the airplane. So I had a closer look, on a bigger screen .. and BINGO ! Indeed, in my video you clearly see an aircraft flying out of the precipitation area where the lightning hit, just a few seconds later.
I will share/youtube the video /videostills in a week ( right now I am tied to a contract of exclusivity with an image agency ). Thank you for your patience.
