Shocking footage shows lightning nearly striking plane

An employee at New Zealand's Christchurch International Airport caught an electrifying moment on Nov. 20 where a bolt of lightning nearly struck a passenger plane about to take off.

Garden City Helicopters, which operates out of the airport, posted the incredible photo on Facebook.

The Emirates plane had been waiting for the storm to pass before departure. According to BBC, parts of the region were suffering from severe thunderstorms last week — "with hailstones the size of eggs in some places." Christchurch also had a 15-minute tornado on Nov. 18 that was "spawned" from the recent storms.

Veuer's Tony Spitz says that the plane did have passengers onboard, but fortunately nobody was injured from the lightning strikes and nothing caught on fire.

Watch the shocking footage above.