FORT MYERS, Fla. – A worker at Southwest Florida International Airport was hospitalized last month after an airplane was struck by lightning while taxiing away from a gate.
Local 10 News on Wednesday obtained cellphone video showing the moment that the lightning struck the Sun Country Airlines plane and shocked Austin Dunn.
Dunn, 21, was recently released from a Fort Myers hospital, nearly two weeks after the July 22 lightning strike.
"Once we knew he was alive, it was a relief," sister Autumn Dunn told Fort Myers ABC affiliate WZVN.
The lightning bolt struck the plane's tail, traveled through the fuselage and into Austin Dunn's body, WZVN reported. The video shows him fall to the ground immediately after the lightning struck the plane.
Officials said the airport's lightning-warning system was activated at the time. A view of the tarmac from a wider angle of the lightning strike shows that no other planes were in operation at the time.
The company that employs Dunn and is subcontracted by the airport did not reply to requests from WZVN for comment.
Sun Country has not replied to an email seeking comment.