Lightning strikes runway at busy airport, flights diverted

Santo Domingo.- Aerodom, the company that manages most Dominicanairports, on Sunday said lightning struck one of the runways at Las AmericasInternational Airport (AILA), where some flights were diverted to alternate terminals.

It said the flights JetBlue 1437 and 409, American Airlines1481, Aserca 422, Air Caraibes 556, Avianca 250, Amerijet 873 and Laser 2966 werediverted to other airports.

It said after inspected and cleaned up with the coordinationof the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC), the flights Iberia 6501, AirEuropa 089 and Copa Airlines 268 landed normally.

Aerodom said once the operations were completed, activitieswill be suspended for around two hours to repair the damage.