Recently, the Southern Airlines flight CZ3209 from Shenzhen to Wuxi was struck by lightning during taxiing for takeoff. The airline subsequently replaced the aircraft and the flight was delayed by approximately 3 hours.
According to a post by a netizen, on August 8th, the flight from Shenzhen to Wuxi that they were on was struck by lightning during the taxiing for takeoff. They described the experience of strong winds and heavy rain causing the aircraft to shake, followed by feeling a loud thunder very close to their seat, giving the sensation as if it had struck nearby.
Reported by “Extreme Focus News” on the 9th, the netizen involved was on the Southern Airlines flight CZ3209. Responding to inquiries by “The First Scene,” staff from Southern Airlines stated that the flight CZ3209 from Shenzhen to Wuxi was originally scheduled to take off from Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport at 16:40, but during taxiing at the Shenzhen airport, the aircraft was suspected to have been struck by lightning. It then returned for inspection. Upon inspection by maintenance staff, over 20 lightning strike points were found on the fuselage and the wings of the aircraft. The airline subsequently replaced the aircraft with a similar model 6630 and resumed the flight.
As displayed on the Flight Traveler app, the CZ3209 flight from Shenzhen to Wuxi on August 8th was scheduled to depart at 16:40 and arrive at 18:55 but actually took off at 20:40 and landed at 22:49.