American Airlines 777 Struck by Lightning Over England, Forced Back to Heathrow. Three Other Planes Hit the Same Day.

What Happened

American Airlines flight AA735 lifted off from London Heathrow on schedule at 3:05 p.m. BST on June 10, headed for Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. Thirty minutes later, the crew set their transponder to squawk 7700, the universal emergency code, while over Manchester airspace at approximately 3:35 p.m. BST, according to the London Evening Standard.

Air traffic control cleared the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER registered as N734AR, for a priority return. It touched down on runway 27R at Heathrow at 4:35 p.m. BST, according to Air Traveler Club, which tracked the flight path and terminal movement. Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting crews inspected the plane on the runway before it taxied to Terminal 3 at 4:51 p.m.

As of June 12, American Airlines has not issued a public statement on the aircraft's maintenance status or a replacement schedule, according to Air Traveler Club.

The Inspection Requirement Is Not Optional

Modern commercial airframes are specifically engineered to conduct electrical charge safely around the fuselage. The National Weather Service confirms that the vast majority of lightning strikes on large passenger aircraft cause no structural damage, and there has not been a lightning-caused commercial airline crash in decades.

That said, "not rare" and "not dangerous" do not mean "ignore it and fly." Under ICAO Annex 6 standards, enforced by both the FAA and the UK Civil Aviation Authority, a full maintenance inspection is mandatory before the aircraft returns to service. No airline gets to skip it. Until American's maintenance organization clears N734AR, the London-Charlotte route runs with one fewer widebody in rotation, according to Air Traveler Club.

Passengers booked on near-term AA735 departures face potential equipment swaps, rebooking delays, and missed U.S. connections while that inspection runs.

Four Aircraft Struck in One Afternoon

The American Airlines emergency was not an isolated freak event on June 10. Three other aircraft were hit in the same storm system, according to the Manchester Evening News and the Evening Standard.

A Jet2 flight departing Leeds Bradford Airport for Lanzarote was struck shortly after takeoff and diverted to Manchester. Firefighters from Wythenshawe and Cheadle, along with a technical response unit from Leigh, responded to the runway at around 4:30 p.m. Passengers were transferred to a replacement aircraft already on the ground and eventually continued their journey, a Manchester Airport spokesperson confirmed to the Manchester Evening News.

A Pegasus Airlines flight from Manchester to Istanbul was struck during takeoff and forced to return. Passenger Nassar Massalha told the Manchester Evening News: "As soon as the plane left the ground, it was struck by lightning. For a second it looked like a ball of fire on the left-hand side of the aircraft." The plane circled for roughly 40 minutes before landing. Pegasus transferred passengers to a replacement aircraft.

A TUI flight arriving from Santorini was also reportedly struck. TUI said the aircraft landed safely, according to the Manchester Evening News.

The Stronger Counterpoint

A reasonable concern is that four lightning strikes in one afternoon at a major aviation hub represents a systemic weather-management failure rather than routine bad luck. If airlines and air traffic control have real-time storm data, critics can fairly ask why multiple flights were cleared through or near an active lightning zone on the same afternoon. The NWS notes that airlines "avoid thunderstorms as much as possible," which implies the avoidance is discretionary and situational, not guaranteed.

That concern is legitimate. What the sources do not establish is whether air traffic control or airline dispatch had adequate warning and ignored it, or whether the storm developed faster than forecast. None of the four airlines involved, no air traffic control authority, and no aviation regulator has publicly addressed the routing decisions made on June 10. The UK CAA and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) will eventually need to answer that question.

What Comes Next

The inspections required by the UK Civil Aviation Authority are not a formality. They are time-consuming and, per the National Weather Service, expensive. American Airlines flight AA735 departs Heathrow daily on the London-Charlotte corridor, meaning every day N734AR is grounded is another day that route runs short an airframe.

American has not announced when or whether the aircraft will be cleared for return to service. Until that clearance comes, the open question for the London-Charlotte route is whether American has sufficient spare 777 capacity at Heathrow to cover the gap without cancellations, or whether passengers will absorb the disruption directly.