A 
United Airlines
flight attendant was injured after lightning struck one of the airline’s Boeing 737s near Cleveland, Ohio. The lightning strike damaged the aircraft’s windshield, frame, and tail, and it remains on the ground in Cleveland following Thursday’s accident.
United Boeing 737 hit by lightning above Cleveland
The event occurred during Flight UA2226 from Chicago O’Hare International (ORD) to Cleveland Hopkins International (CLE) on Thursday. The flight was operated by a Boeing 737-800 registered as N77530, a 13-year-old airframe that was performing its fourth flight of the day. After taking off from Chicago at a delayed time of 16:07, it completed its journey to Cleveland in less than an hour, landing at 18:02 local time.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report, the plane was on approach towards Cleveland when it was struck by lightning, “damaging the windshield and frame” and leaving “burn marks on the tail.” Additionally, a flight attendant is said to have received treatment for minor injuries, although it did not specify what these injuries were.
Photo: Flightradar24
Data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft remains grounded in Cleveland since landing on Thursday evening. No further details have been disclosed on the severity of the damage – Simple Flying has reached out to United Airlines for comment and will update this story accordingly.
How dangerous are lightning strikes?
Lightning strikes do happen on occasion, and planes are designed to withstand them – if there is any damage, it tends to be minor and is generally repaired quickly. This is what happened earlier this year when two aircraft – a United 737 and a Frontier A320neo – were struck by lightning on the same day, leaving a small hole in the 737 and paint lacerations on the Frontier plane.
One of the most dramatic lightning strikes to be caught on camera hit an Air Canada Boeing 777 as it climbed out of Vancouver – on that occasion, the plane continued its journey to London and passed a post-flight inspection. Oftentimes, an aircraft will proceed with its flight plan despite being struck, while other flights may decide to conduct an emergency landing, such as this Delta A330 over Boston this summer.
Photo: muratart | Shutterstock
In previous generations, lightning strikes were more of a threat to an aircraft – perhaps the worst case was Pan Am Flight 214, which suffered a fuel tank ignition due to a lightning strike, killing all 81 passengers and crew. The FAA recently issued a new airworthiness directive (AD) for the Boeing 777 concerning its fuel tanks and susceptibility to lightning strikes, a problem also discovered on the Boeing 747 in 2023.
About N77530
The Boeing 737-800 struck by lightning was delivered to United in March 2011 and can seat up to 166 passengers in a two-class layout. According to ch-aviation data, the aircraft has accumulated over 43,000 flight hours and 15,500 flight cycles during its 13 years flying with United.