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Veterans

Plane carrying dozens of veterans on 'Honor Flight' to DC struck by lightning

By Louis Casiano Fox News
Published
A flight carrying veterans to from Illinois to Washington, D.C. to see war memorials was struck by lightning Tuesday. 

A flight carrying veterans to from Illinois to Washington, D.C. to see war memorials was struck by lightning Tuesday.  (Sun County Airlines )

A flight carrying 73 veterans and their families from Illinois to Washington, D.C. for a daylong tour of war memorials was struck by lightning Tuesday but landed safely.

Sun County Airlines flight 8657 departed Peoria for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it was struck by lightning mid-flight, the Peoria Journal Star reported. On board were veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

“The lightning strike wasn’t much of anything. We didn’t even know the plane was hit until we started hearing about it from the news story,” said Joshua Eaker, who accompanied his father-in-law on the trip.

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The airline said in a statement that the plane "landed safely and without incident" and that "after landing, maintenance observed evidence of a lightning strike."

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The paper reported technicians were inspecting the aircraft and a separate plane was sent to Washington to fly the veterans back to Peoria Tuesday night.