747 Struck By Lightning

submitted by mintbbb
1 decade 5 years 8 months 1 week ago

29 Comments

spoco2says...

You do all know that aeroplanes are designed to easily take lightning strikes? Because of their metal bodies, the lighting just runs around the outside on its way to ground.

By way of further explanation:

A handful of jets have been blown up by lightning, including a Pan American flight in 1963 that killed 83 people. But scientists have since figured out how to mostly harness Nature's fury. In the early 1980s, NASA (whose shuttle launch pad was struck by lightning the other day) flew a jet into a thunderstorm at 38,000 feet. It was hit 72 times in 45 minutes, and much was learned. Commerical planes are still hit about once a year, by some estimates. A strike typically starts at a wingtip, nose or tail and courses through the skin, which is often made of aluminum—a good conductor. The plane's lights might flicker, but most of the energy just heads back into the sky if there are no gaps in the skin. Modern jets often employ advanced composite materials, which are not so conductive, so metal has to be added to the composites to carry the lightning.

kceaton1says...

>> ^spoco2:
You do all know that aeroplanes are designed to easily take lightning strikes? Because of their metal bodies, the lighting just runs around the outside on its way to ground.
By way of further explanation:

A handful of jets have been blown up by lightning, including a Pan American flight in 1963 that killed 83 people. But scientists have since figured out how to mostly harness Nature's fury. In the early 1980s, NASA (whose shuttle launch pad was struck by lightning the other day) flew a jet into a thunderstorm at 38,000 feet. It was hit 72 times in 45 minutes, and much was learned. Commerical planes are still hit about once a year, by some estimates. A strike typically starts at a wingtip, nose or tail and courses through the skin, which is often made of aluminum—a good conductor. The plane's lights might flicker, but most of the energy just heads back into the sky if there are no gaps in the skin. Modern jets often employ advanced composite materials, which are not so conductive, so metal has to be added to the composites to carry the lightning.



Adding a little information to what spoco2 linked too above. Many things act as a Faraday Cage which if used correctly will cancel out the forces in play,

GeeSussFreeKsays...

A little googling shows this fact

"The last confirmed civilian plane crash that was directly attributed to lightning in the U.S. was in 1967, when lightning caused a catastrophic fuel tank explosion. Since then, much has been learned about how lightning can affect airplanes, and protection techniques have improved. Airplanes receive a rigorous set of lightning certification tests to verify the safety of their designs."

Kerotansays...

I don't think electrocution is the danger, I would imagine the high temperatures and the resulting shockwave could do some damage.

At any rate, at least 172 people would probably argue that planes don't like lightning...well, they would if they weren't dead.

jimnmssays...

>> ^supersaiyan93:
Where was the annoying guy behind the camera going "HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!" through the whole video?
I mean, I have a certain expectation from user submitted video.


And where are his friends that all yell "did you get that, did you get that?"

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