A JET carrying 144 passengers was struck by lightning as it landed during a thunderstorm on its way back to Manchester.

The Airblue flight from Islamabad, in Pakistan, was struck on its nose-cone as it approached an airport in Turkey, where it was stopping to refuel.

Passengers say the plane was buffeted by turbulence before they saw a bright flash and heard a loud bang.

The crew managed to land the plane at Trabzon Airport in north-eastern Turkey without declaring an emergency or suffering any casualties.

The Airbus A321-200 was checked over by engineers and then taken out of service as a safety precaution.

Passenger Usman Chaudhry, 30, a student in Bradford, said: "We had about 10 minutes to go before landing when there was a lot of turbulence and the plane started shaking.

"Then I heard a loud bang and saw a huge flash out of the window. The cabin crew started to panic. They were running about and a steward asked me if I could operate the door in the event of an emergency.

"But the pilot managed to land at the airport and it was like a miracle. The ground staff told us they heard a big blast in the air and they weren't sure if the plane would get down safely.

"It was terrible - it was more than terrible. I'm glad to be alive."

A spokesman for Pakistan-based Airblue. commenting on the December 30 incident, said: "After checks by technicians, it was grounded as a safety precaution, but planes are often struck by lightning during storms."