Watch as British Airways plane is struck by lightning & cars are swept away as devastating floods wreak havoc in Brazil
Watch as British Airways plane is struck by lightning & cars are swept away as devastating floods wreak havoc in Brazil
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THIS is the moment a British Airways plane was dramatically struck by lightning as devastating floods wreak havoc across Brazil's largest city. The Airbus A350 was parked at São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport when it was directly hit on its vertical stabilizer during a massive storm.
![[Lightning striking an airplane at an airport.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image-12.png?strip=all&w=960)
Incredible footage from Friday shows the electrifying moment as the lightning bolt connected to the fuselage for several seconds. The plane, en route to London Heathrow, was delayed for inspections, while 21 other flights were redirected due to the severe weather.
![[Two cars submerged in floodwater on a city street.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image-17.png?strip=all&w=647)
That's thanks to advanced safety features that shield passengers from electrical discharge. Elsewhere in São Paulo - a city with more than 11 million residents - chaos unfolded as heavy rains battered the city, dumping an entire month’s worth of rainfall in just hours.
![[Person riding a jet ski through floodwaters.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/871e7f02-b82c-4c0f-bcf2-a245eac02c68.jpg?strip=all&w=644)
Streets turned into rivers, cars were swept away, and one resident was spotted navigating the floodwaters on a jet ski. Public transport ground to a halt, with locals crowding subway stations to escape the torrential downpour. By Friday evening, over 120,000 Enel customers were left without power, with outages affecting nearly 180,000 homes at the storm's peak.
![[People evacuating a mall filled with smoke.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/75cc18ea-4c6e-4401-94ff-51e0e8078e38.jpg?strip=all&w=610)
Gusting winds and lighting added to the destruction, leaving neighbourhoods submerged and sparking urgent alerts from the Civil Defence. For the first time, local authorities issued an emergency alert directly to residents’ phones, warning of the flooding and urging people to seek safety.
![[Crowds gather along a flooded canal.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/watch-british-airways-plane-struck-966818214.png?strip=all&w=549)
