Ask My Sky Mom. Aviation wit and wisdom.

Hey Mom,

How worried should I be about flying through thunderstorms?  Can lightning really cause a crash?  How often does this happen?

Thanks,

Looking For a Flash of Insight

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Hey Flash,

The last time an airplane crash in the US was attributed to a lightning strike was back in 1963, a 707 over Maryland.  Fuel vapors ignited in the tank.  There were no survivors.  Thankfully, this tragic tale has not been repeated since.

It’s estimated that on average, each aircraft is struck by lightning twice per year, so clearly the lightning proofing going on must be working out pretty well!  How do you do that voodoo that you do so well, you ask those aeronautical engineers?  Well, consider that most airplanes have an entirely aluminum skin that conducts electricity very, very efficiently.  In fact, so efficiently that an airplane flying through a charged cloud will often INDUCE a bolt of lightning!  A flash, a bang, and no harm to the aircraft beyond a very small burn hole at the entrance and exit points is the usual result.  Airplanes built with composite materials often have a metal mesh embedded or a similar design situation such that they’ll also successfully conduct that lightning strike right around the cabin and all of the sensitive avionics and sensitive passengers therein.  As long as all the metal bits are properly bonded so that the charge can continue across the aircraft without any gaps to leap, life is good.  The new Boeing 787 will even have nitrogen (an inert gas) pumped into the space above the fuel in the fuel tanks, though the pocket protector folks insist that this isn’t strictly necessary, just a nice touch.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX6Xk0DRVvE]

So how worried should you be?  Lightning is NOT the only nor even the most serious danger associated with thunderstorms.  Think hail, think downbursts, think tornados, think severe turbulence and icing!!!!  Think I’ll skip all that by giving thunderstorms a wide berth and/or staying on the ground when it’s my call.  The big guys can sometimes get high enough to overfly those dangerous behemoths we call thunderstorms, but you’ll never pull it off in a singe engine airplane or even in many twins, so don’t try it!  This is where that old saw about it being better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground rings dangerously true.  So.  Avoid thunderstorms like the plague they are but rest assured that should the captain of your next airline flight take you near a thunderstorm, the plane can handle it.  Tighten your seat belt, forgo the cup of hot coffee, and start mentally composing a thank you note to all those aeronautical engineers.

Fly safe,

Mom

~ by myskymom on July 1, 2009.