Over 160 people aboard an American carrier had a lucky escape when the aircraft was hit by lightning which damaged the plane's weather radar.

Following the incident, the Frontier Airlines flight to Seattle was diverted to Salt Lake City on Friday night. The lightning damaged the plane's weather radar, said Tyri Squyres, a Frontier spokeswoman.

Because of bad weather in Denver, it was not safe to return to its starting point without the radar system, she said. The plane was traveling to Seattle when lightning hit around 6:50 pm.

It made a U-turn to get to Salt Lake, Squyres said. None of the 168 passengers were injured, and no other damage was caused to the airplane, Denver Post reported. The number of crew aboard the flight was not mentioned. The flight was delayed in Salt Lake for several hours while repairs were made.