WHEN Rachael Bamber and boyfriend Shane Hanlon boarded the Continental Airlines Boeing 757 from New York to Gatwick they couldn't have been happier.

The couple had just spent a two-week break together visiting Rachael's family and were looking forward to getting back to their Priory Vale home.

Yet minutes after taking off their serenity was literally shattered by a bolt out of the blue as their plane was struck by lightning.

The 10,000ft drama left many passengers wondering if the flight would be their last.

And no-one was more scared than Rachael.

"People started screaming. I thought: Oh my god, we are going to crash'," recalled Rachael, who is a radiographer at the Great Western Hospital.

"I screamed out for Shane, and he said we'd probably been struck by lightning."

The plane was carrying about 100 passengers when it was forced to make an emergency landing back at Newark.

Rachael described an explosion and a flash of white light followed by a loud bang as the electrical bolt struck the aircraft.

She said that a burning smell filled the cabin.

The 23-year-old said: "Some passengers said they could smell burning, and the girl behind us was in hysterics, screaming and praying and shouting: Get me off the plane! Get me off the plane'."

There had been no indication when the flight departed that there was any danger beyond the usual bad weather, but, when Rachael and the other passengers got off the plane, they realised how lucky they were.

She said: "We saw a two-foot gash in the nose cone, a hole with metal ripped back.

"It was only then we realised the enormity of what had happened."

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey responsible for Newark airport said that there were no reports of any injuries.

And Rachael was so grateful that she escaped from the incident unhurt, she even thanked the pilot personally for making sure they got down safely.

"Afterwards, they gave us meal vouchers and I saw the pilot at the bar getting a coffee," she said.

"I gave him a big hug and thanked him for getting us down safely.

"He said the crew had been completely blinded for about three seconds. I'm so glad our pilots and crew were so professional."