An Air New Zealand plane has had to return to Auckland after being struck by lightning while en route to Tahiti.
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Passengers aboard flight NZ42 reported seeing a bright flash, followed by a "huge, loud bang and a shake" about ten minutes into the trip.
The flight, which departed at 7:10pm local time on Friday night - an hour later than expected - then circled around somewhere off the coast of the Bay of Plenty and was back Auckland about 8.30pm.
Jason Carstens was on the flight with his wife, headed to Tahiti for their 20th wedding anniversary - their first time travelling in about a decade.
He caught the moment the lightning struck the plane on camera.
"I was trying to get some shots of the storm out of the plane on climb out and it hit. Very loud, very bright, felt like a bomb, like we hit or were hit by something," he told Stuff.
"I think we all knew what it was but it seemed to be fine. We flew on for what felt like about 30 minutes and then were told we were going back," he said.
Stuff political reporter Andrea Vance was on the flight too, and said it sounded like the undercarriage was struck.
"Most people around me jumped and looked around for reassurance.
"It was obvious what had happened. Shortly after that there was bad turbulence and the crew were told to stay in their seats."
Stuff visual journalist Iain McGregor, who was also on the flight, said "there was a bright flash and a loud bang and you could tell straight away we'd been hit by lightning".
"You could tell by the look on the faces of the cabin crew that it wasn't normal."
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman confirmed the disruption, but said lightning strikes were not uncommon.
"Aircrafts are designed with this in mind and our pilots train for this scenario."
She said the flight had returned to Auckland Airport by about 8.30pm, and the aircraft would be inspected by engineers.
She said customers will be accommodated on alternative services.
Vance said passengers have been booked onto a flight on Saturday evening, meaning passengers would be stranded for 24 hours.
"We're booked to leave tomorrow at 7pm, so hopefully we can do it this time," Carstens said.
