NICOSIA, Feb 3 (AFP) - A Cypriot airliner carrying 62 tourists was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm as it came into land in Cyprus Thursday on its way to Britain.
No-one was injured but the Boeing 737 was slightly damaged and forced to stay grounded at Paphos airport on the western coast of the Mediterranean island, Helios Airways said.
"The lightning hit the front window and there was some damage, but there was no other damage to the aircraft and no injury to cabin crew or passengers," Helios spokeswoman Vicky Xitas told AFP.
The plane was flying from Larnaca airport on the south of the island to pick up 51 extra tourists in Paphos before heading on to London's Luton airport, Xitas said, declining to give the nationalities of the passengers.
"It's very normal for a plane to be hit during a storm in Europe, it's just not that usual in Cyprus as we don't have a lot of electrical storms," she added.
Helios is the island's first privately-owned airline whic was established in 1999 and operates three Boeing 737s on routes to London, Dublin, Sofia, Athens, Cairo and Warsaw.
02/03/2005 12:59 GMT - AFP