The Washington Times' John McCaslin shared in his column his story of a scary weekend plane ride:

"It was the explosive 'bang' and flash of fire that scared the writer's ink out of me. As the packed Airbus 320 climbed through dark and turbulent skies en route to a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, there suddenly was a loud explosion and fireball that shot out from beneath the right wing barely feet from the cabin (I had an amazing view, buckled as I was into window seat 17-F, just one row behind the wing.) Startled passengers held hands and began praying. A Washington lawyer in my row began to cry. Still, from the cockpit, only eerie silence....

"Finally, after several agonizing minutes of not knowing whether an engine blew or if there was an explosion of sinister sorts in the belly of the plane, the bouncing Airbus emerged above the clouds and the calming voice of the captain came over the intercom. He told passengers that in all of his years as a professional pilot -- 'since 1969' -- he could count on one hand the number of times his plane took such a direct hit from lightning. 'It certainly got our attention up here,' he assured passengers. 'But fortunately this airplane performed as it was designed to, and now you have something to tell your friends about.'"