Air New Zealand plane struck by lightning en route to Rarotonga, returns to Auckland

An Air New Zealand plane en route to Rarotonga has been forced to return to Auckland shortly after takeoff after it was struck by lightning, the Herald understands. Passengers, surely looking forward to enjoying the Cook Islands sun, endured about an hour of the plane circling over Tāwharanui before heading back to Auckland, a city beset with rain. Flight NZ942 turned around off the coast of Tāwharanui Peninsula in north Auckland after circling around about seven times. The plane took off about 6am and started circling about 30 minutes into the flight. It landed back in Auckland about 8am. The aircraft was an Airbus A321-271NX.<br/>