Does a lightning strike on an aircraft in midair during cruise always bring a plane down and how so?

Answer 1

Lightning strikes aircraft fairly regularly. There is usually little damage. Melting may occur at the point of the strike and at the point of discharge. Many aircraft have discharge points on the plane to eliminate this problem Here is a link to some interesting information about aircraft lightning strikes. http://www.jdchapdelaine.com/lightning.htm

Answer 2

Mostly when lightning hits an aircraft, it either causes none or very little damage. Usually because of the design of the aircraft, the electric charge of the lightning will simply get conducted ariund the cabin through the fuselage, and will leave at the trailing (rear) edges of the wings or other parts. Every now and then it will make a small entry and /or exit hole in the fuselage, and in rare ocations it can cause some damage to electrical supllys is not properly grounded.

Composit aircraft that are IFR rated (able to fly in clouds) have metal wires that run through the fuselage to help disperse the electrisity just like a normal metal fuselage. Non-IFR rated composite aircraft are most likelly to get serious damage from loghtning strike.

Answer 3

Lightning may do minor damage to an airplane. It can melt a small hole in the skin and it can blow out the avionics. Because an aircraft is not grounded, there is little motivation for lightning to strike it.

However, in Japan somebody got a spectacular video of a Boeing 747-400 that got struck by lightning while either on approach or shortly after departure. It is an amazing video, I've seen it several times.

I have been on board a ship that got struck by lightning (I have my third mate and third assistant engineer's licenses, unlimited horsepower, unlimited oceans, and unlimited tonnage). We lost our navigation equipment but nothing else. The only reason why we lost our navigation equipment is because the navigation antennas (GPS, Satnav, Omega, Loran) were the highest point on the ship. We were two days outside of Hong Kong bound for Los Angeles. We had to use celestial navigation to get ourselves the rest of the way there.

Answer 4

confident. i've got had to assist restore plane placed up lightning strike. you are able to tell whilst it has using fact it could have 2 small burn marks/holes on the airframe, an get right of entry to and go out factor. whilst it lands, the avionics, electric structures and the flying controls must be completely checked for faults. Fuses must be checked and the panels that took the brunt of the strike must be repaired/replaced. plane (exceedingly airliners) are secure from the strikes using fact the lightning has a tendency to circulate around the exterior airframe of the plane, so passengers won't word the effect. it is not risky for the human beings on board, however the avionics would have issues till this is investigated and repaired. The plane in many cases does not fly for a million-2 weeks after the incident mutually as groundcrew restoration it. do not complication approximately it however. it is not as undesirable because it style of feels. extra present day plane are completely secure against the outcomes, so no harm is taken. Oh, and the guy who mentioned that the plane has not something magnetic in it replaced into speaking finished crap. once you bypass an electric contemporary by a cord, you produce a magnetic container. whilst the equipment potential is on, magnetic fields are contemporary.

Answer 5

No typicaly it does not cause the aircraft to crash. I work on aircraft daily and have seen small to large damage from lightening strikes. A Falcon 900B I have been working on for the past 8 months had a lightening strike, causeing various point of exit wounds.. and a hole about 1/4" in the RH wing tip area. Now the repair for that item was very quick... as they replaced the wing tip, but for the most part it is not typicaly a life threatening item.

Answer 6

On average each airliner in the US gets hit around once a year. I've seen it strike a 757 aileron and the damage was concentrated to about a 3 inch diameter ring. The center had a hole about as big as your finger, and the rest was heat damage where the resin in the composite was cooked.

To my knowledge, only one airliner ever crashed due to lightning, and that was in the 1950's and was a propliner, think is was an Electra. Anyone else have fuzzy memories like that???

Answer 7

Lightning strikes airplanes quite often but causes little damage. My experience tells me it affects mostly the avionics. Actually a lightning strike may cause only two small brown spots. The first where the lightning hits the airplane and the second where the pilot sits.

Answer 8

Hi Henry -

No, it doesn't. A lightning strike on a metal airplane causes little damage.

There are non-metal aircraft, such as those built primarily of fiber glass, that can be seriously damaged by a lightening strikes. But there are at present no comercial airlines operating such aircraft.

So worry not about that hazard!

Good question!

CQ

Answer 9

Most commercial lanes fly over thunder storms, and through them. Airplanes are very well grounded to avoid the damage lightning can cause.
Not every plane is made this way though some are not built to fly in storms.
There have been times when airplanes have gone down due to loss of the eletronics after a lightning strike.


On the other hand there are planes that are built to be hit by lightning to study it.

Answer 10

very, very seldom happen, It's the paint on the Aircraft that stops any damage to the plane occuring. the Plane becomes a Faraday's Cage, and the Lighting just goes around the plane's body and disperses. If the Plane's paintwork is damaged it may be possible for the lighting to punch a hole in the wings or bodywork.