Passengers on El Al flight 382, which made its way from Milan to Tel Aviv on Sunday, were panicked after the plane was hit by lightning. One of the passengers on that flight was non other than President Shimon Peres. Approximately five minutes after the Boeing 737/800 plane took off from Italy, a huge explosion was heard and passengers who were sitting on the left side of the plane saw what looked like a huge ball of fire. The lightning had hit the plane and that no damage was caused. The flight continued its course to Israel. Peres, was not at all alarmed and read a newspaper the entire time. When he was asked by one of his employees if he is not afraid, he replied: "What do have I to fear? I'm in the hands of the world's best pilots." Later on, the President rose from his chair, walked down the aisles and shook hands with the passengers. Before landing, Peres entered the cockpit, where he shook hands with the pilots and congratulated them personally. Peres was returning from Italy, where he attended festivities celebrating 150 years of the country's unification.
