ABOUT A TEN MINUTE DRIVE TIME DELAY THERE WE ARE FOLLOWING THAT BREAKING NEWS FROM KCI AND AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT MADE AN EMERGENCY LANDING AFTER IT WAS HIT BY LIGHTNING. KMBC NINE’S MARTIN AUGUSTINE JOINS US LIVE AT KCI. AND MARTIN, WHAT DO WE KNOW RIGHT NOW? WELL, WE KNOW THAT FLIGHT IS GOING TO BE TAKING OFF AGAIN IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. AND IF YOU LOOK DOWN HERE, YOU’LL SEE THAT AIRPLANE. IT’S THE BACK END OF THE AIRPLANE WITH A RED WHITE AND BLUE COLORING ON THE TAIL. WE BELIEVE THAT IS AMERICAN AIRLINES 3661 THAT DEPARTED THIS MORNING AT. 536 IN THE MORNING, AND IT RETURNED AT 624. SO ABOUT 50 MINUTES THERE SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THOSE TWO TIMES, THE AIRPLANE WAS HIT BY LIGHTNING AND IT RETURNED HERE, UH, AS A AS A MATTER OF COURSE, WE DON’T KNOW THAT THERE WAS ANY DAMAGE. IN FACT, WE DOUBT THERE IS ONE. OTHERWISE IT WOULDN’T BE TAKING OFF HERE IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES. ONLINE INFORMATION TELLING US IT’S SCHEDULED TO BE PULLING AWAY FROM THE GATE THERE AROUND EIGHT, TEN, 42 PEOPLE ON BOARD. CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE BEEN STARTLING TO THEM, BUT WE HEAR LOTS OF REPORTING ALL THE TIME ABOUT WHEN AIRLINE AIRPLANES ARE HIT BY LIGHTNING. IT’S SOMETHING THAT THEY’RE DESIGNED TO TO BE ABLE TO TOLERATE. UH, BUT BUT WHY SPECIFICALLY THEY CAME BACK? UH, IT MAY HAVE BEEN STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE, UH, OR JUST A PRECAUTIONARY, CERTAINLY. UH, BUT IF IT’S ABOUT READY TO FLY AGAIN, THEN WE WOULD ASSUME THAT THERE’S BEEN A CHECK OF THE AIRPLANE AND THAT EVERYTHING’S A-OKAY. REPORTING LIVE