Chris Hemsworth has shared frightening footage from a small-plane flight during his family vacation in Costa Rica, showing lightning flashing outside the aircraft as heavy turbulence shakes the cabin. The sequence appears in a five-minute video posted on the Australian actor’s YouTube channel. Hemsworth films the cockpit and dark storm clouds before several large flashes illuminate the sky around the aircraft.
He then turns the camera toward himself with a visibly alarmed expression. Text added to the video describes the experience as a “life-threatening plane ride,” while Hemsworth called it a “crazy plane ride through the lightning” in the video description. The aircraft landed safely, and no injuries were reported. Hemsworth did not identify the airline, flight operator, route or type of aircraft involved.
The footage also does not make clear whether his wife, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, or their three children were aboard during the stormy flight. They appear throughout the rest of the vacation video. Hemsworth and his family spent much of their Costa Rica visit surfing, fishing, riding ATVs, climbing rocks, jumping from cliffs and exploring waterfalls. The actor described the vacation as one of the best trips the family had taken together.
The family was spotted in early July around Santa Teresa and Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula.. Hemsworth was photographed surfing, exercising with a Costa Rican trainer and posing with fans during the trip. The frightening flight footage has drawn particular attention because Hemsworth is best known for playing Thor, Marvel’s god of thunder. Several viewers joked that the actor appeared far less comfortable around real lightning than his superhero character.
Although several reports have described the aircraft as being struck by lightning, the publicly available footage only clearly shows flashes around the plane. It does not establish whether lightning directly hit the aircraft. The flight also appears to have been a domestic trip within Costa Rica rather than the family’s international journey into the country.
The remainder of the video returns to the family’s outdoor adventures, including deep-sea fishing, surfing and waterfall visits. Hemsworth ends the video on a considerably calmer note, describing Costa Rica as the setting for one of the family’s most memorable vacations.
