A Thursday morning Air New Zealand flight from Auckland bound for Rarotonga has been struck by lightning after taking off from the super city.
Air New Zealand confirmed in a statement flight NZ942, which took off just after 6am, had landed back in Auckland where it will undergo engineering checks.
"Lightening strikes are not uncommon. Aircraft are designed with this in mind and our pilots train for this scenario," a spokesperson told Newshub.
"Our team will be working to re-accommodate customers on the next available service."
The flight was being operated by Airbus A321neo.
