What happens if airplane struck by lightning

The growing class of kit-built composite aircraft also raises some concerns. Because the FAA considers owner-assembled, kit-built aircraft "experimental," they are not subject to lightning protection regulations. Many kit-built planes are made of fiberglass or graphite-reinforced composites. At LTI we routinely test protected fiberglass and composite panels with simulated lightning currents.

The results of these tests show that lightning can damage inadequately protected composites. Pilots of unprotected fiberglass or composite aircraft should not fly anywhere near a lightning storm or in other types of clouds, because nonthunderstorm clouds may contain sufficient electric charge to produce lightning. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options.

Go Paperless with Digital. Answer originally published August 20, Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Occasionally, a static wick will be the victim of lightning exiting the airplane.

I have been in airplanes that have sustained lightning strikes several times with very little damage. Q: When lightning strikes an airplane, are you safer in the air or on the ground?

A: In the air, airplanes are designed to dissipate the lightning quickly. I have been flying airplanes that were struck multiple times, and there was little or no damage sustained. All the surfaces are bonded, giving the lightning a pathway to pass back into the atmosphere. The last incident when a lightning strike ended in a catastrophe occurred in The crew lost control of the plane after the outer left wing disintegrated due to the explosion.

Usually, planes are struck by lightning at an altitude of 5, to 15, feet 1, to 4, meters , often following take-off or descent. The presence of rain is another factor that increases the chances of lightning to occur. If lightning strikes a plane after take-off, the aircraft usually returns to the airport it departed from, mostly as a precaution to ensure all systems are working fine as some of them cannot reboot mid-air.

Most lightning strike incidents happen during spring and summer. The probability of a lightning strike generally decreases at higher altitudes of 20, feet 6, meters and above. How severe could a lightning strike be for an aircraft? Although a lightning strike can be quite an unpleasant experience for the aircraft crew and passengers, in most cases it does not cause much physical damage to the plane, nor does it compromise its safety.

Typically, lightning hits certain parts of an aircraft like a wingtip or the nose. The thunder that follows the strike itself can be almost deafening in the cabin, while other times the cabin crew may not hear anything.

In fact, the rate of fatalities has declined far faster than public fears about flying! Skip to content. Aircraft and lightning strikes: here is what the statistics say. Sep 7 Author: Viktoriya Zoriy. Related Posts. January 12,