Sio said the plane was \u201cshaking violently\u201d, leaving the pair bouncing up and down and feeling frightened.<\/p>\n
Just 10 minutes into the flight, a \u201cdeafening\u201d bang rang out across the cabin.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was s*** scared. Everyone was off their seat. There were people yelling and screaming, it was crazy,\u201d Sio said.<\/p>\n
He said as the sound rocked the plane, he saw a large orange \u201cfireball\u201d on the plane\u2019s left wing.<\/p>\n
It was difficult to hear for the hours after the noise, Sio said, and he had a bad headache from the sound.<\/p>\n
Air New Zealand chief operations officer Alex Marren confirmed the plane was struck by lightning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe aircraft is now undergoing standard engineering checks, and as a result, NZ676 Dunedin-Auckland was cancelled,\u201d Marren said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are reaccommodating customers on alternate services, and we have put on an additional flight from Christchurch to Dunedin to help get customers to where they need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said lightning strikes were not uncommon and pilots were trained for the scenario.<\/p>\n
Sio assumed the plane took quite a bit of damage during the incident and was shocked when no messages were said over the loudspeaker and the plane did not turn around after the strike.<\/p>\n
Instead, it carried on through to Christchurch, short of its Dunedin destination.<\/p>\n
MetService recorded 482 lightning strikes from 4am to 7am as an active frontal band of rain swept up the country.<\/p>\n