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Aircraft and Lightning
Name: Mark
Status: other
Age: 20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
What effect does lightning have when it strikes an aircraft?
Replies:
Mark,
A lightning strike on an aircraft normally does not damage the
airplane, although it may leave a burn mark. The lightning
energy travels through the metal skin of the aircraft and
sometimes into other areas of the aircraft. In a few cases
the energy has damaged electronic equipment in the aircraft,
but only a few aircraft have received enough damage to cause
a major problem with flying the plane. The skin of the aircraft
can usually dissipate the lightning energy sufficiently to prevent
problems.
David Cook
Lightning researcher at Argonne National Laboratory
Dear Mark-
Lightning can have varying effects on an airplane, ranging from "no" effect,
to severe damage, and even in extremely rare instances, explosion is fuel
tanks. Since the exterior or "skin" of most aircraft is metal, the
electrical charge of the lightning bolt travels along the surface of the
aircraft and exits, causing only minor damage, such as pits or burns on the
skin at the points of entry or exit. Occasionally the lightning can damage
other parts of an aircraft, such as the electrical or avionics systems.
Aircraft are required to remain at least 20 miles from thunderstorms, mainly
to protect them from hail and turbulence, but also from lightning. But those
first two components of a thunderstorm cause much more damage to aircraft
than lightning does.
Wendell Bechtold, Meteorologist
Forecaster, National Weather Service
Weather Forecast Office, St. Louis, MO
Mark -
It is unlikely that an aircraft would be struck by lightning. On the ground it
sits on rubber tire (like a car). In the air, it is not grounded. When
lightning strikes an airplane, it is just a matter of bad luck - being in the
wrong place at the wrong time. In other words, if it happens to be between two
points between which the lightning is already going to strike the current will
go through the airplane.
When it does happen, the consequences can be dire. Electrical circuits
(especially the in the micro-electronics employed in the most modern systems)
are damaged just as a tv or microwave oven would be. Sometimes, parts of the
airplane can be blown off and holes cut in aluminum. Seldom does a lightning
strike cause a crash, but the potential is there.
Related to this, aircraft can pick up a static charge by flying through
charged
air. When they return to the ground, they can hold the charge for a
considerable time sitting on their rubber tires. A real danger exists if the
charge sparks when refueling. They solves this in two ways. By electrically
connecting the fuel truck and the plane before fueling and by attaching
"static
wicks" to the trailing edges of aircraft that allow the charge to dissipate
more quickly.
Larry Krengel
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Update: June 2012
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