AA506 - Incident: American A321 near Charlotte on Dec 20th 2024

An American Airlines Airbus A321-200, registration N996AN performing flight AA-506 from Charlotte,NC to Seattle,WA (USA), was climbing out of Charlotte, when the aircraft received a lightning strike prompting the crew to level off at FL290 and return to Charlotte for a safe landing on runway 36C about 55 minutes after departure.

The FAA reported: "AIRCRAFT DEPARTED AND WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING DAMAGING THE NOSE, CHARLOTTE, NC."

A replacement A321-200 registration N581UW reached Seattle the following day with a delay of about 13:45 hours.

The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground in Charlotte for about 41 hours before returning to service.