Some investigators have noted that the plane flew through a severe lightning storm.

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During the storm that included lightning, gusty winds and heavy rains, the infield was soaked while the grounds crew struggled to get the tarp on the field.

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Some of your former classmates are training with Navy SEAL teams that will storm terrorist safe houses in lightning raids.

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"There doesn't have to be rainfall for lightning to strike, and when a storm is past it can still be dangerous, " the South African Press Association quotes him as saying.

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But while of particular interest to the electrical storm specialists at Cardiff University, lightning is just one of the many extreme weather phenomena encountered by planes when in the air.

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As the sun set, a summer storm was gathering, and Henry watched lightning flicker across the clouds.

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Following the incidents, South African Weather Service forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng said there was a common misconception that lightning mainly struck during heavy rain or a severe storm.

BBC: South Africa pupils in hospital after lightning strikes

"This storm had everything you could handle at one time: tornadoes, hail, lightning, heavy rain, people clogging the highways, " Mr. Smith said.

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The lightning struck as the cricketers from King Edward VII School were pulling covers over the pitch after the storm began.

BBC: South Africa pupils in hospital after lightning strikes