SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A flight from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas had to be diverted after the plane was struck by lightning.

Glen Mills, director of communications and government relations for the Utah Department of Corrections, was a passenger on the Friday, August 9, flight that was originally scheduled to depart Salt Lake City International Airport at 3:45 p.m.

The flight was apparently delayed by an hour due to traffic problems at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

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Once the plane was in the air, Mills said, nearly ten minutes passed before “severe turbulence” occurred.

Shortly thereafter, the captain announced that the plane had been struck by lightning and the flight was being diverted back to Salt Lake City.

Mills said after some time, the plane began to descend as if it was coming in to land. Suddenly, the plane changed direction and took off in the other direction before beginning to circle the west side of the Salt Lake City airport.

There was no explanation for what had happened, and Mills said that was when passengers began to become concerned.

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The captain finally announced that due to the stormy weather conditions, landing was not safe and they would have to wait for the storm to end.

When the flight finally arrived on the ground, the aircraft was inspected and found to be damaged and unusable.

Mills eventually got another flight and landed safely in Vegas around 1 a.m. Saturday.