A woman missed out on festive drinks after her first plane was struck by lightning and the replacement was struck by birds

• An Air New Zealand plane was struck by lightning mid-flight on Wednesday, forcing it to turn back.
• Another aircraft on the same route had to be canceled after it was struck by birds.

It seems the universe really didn't want Victoria Carter to get to a Christmas drinks on Wednesday.

She was trying to fly from Wellington, New Zealand's capital, back home to Auckland, its biggest city, when the plane operating her flight got struck by lightning, forcing it to turn back.

Then another Air New Zealand plane was struck by birds, taking that aircraft out of service as well.

The incidents meant a total of four flights between the two cities were canceled, with Carter missing out on her first party of the festive season.

She told local news site Stuff: "I got an alert telling me I had been cancelled, and then staff told me the rebooked plane was cancelled again, because it had been struck by birds."

Carter ended up spending a long afternoon waiting at Wellington airport. She tweeted: "2 flights now cancelled and no seats... getting wee bit anxious!"

She eventually made it home late Wednesday evening, but missed out on the planned Christmas celebration.

A spokesperson for Air New Zealand told Insider: "All aircraft are being inspected by engineers before being returned to service. These [situations] are not uncommon and our pilots train for these scenarios."

Passengers were put on later flights, the spokesperson added.

Carter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.