Right now we have a massive electric storm over Sydney. I have been watching dozens of forked lightening strikes hitting the ground, yet, in the distance i can still see planes taking off from the airport. Obvioulsy lightening mustn't affect planes, but i dont understand why this is? Afterall they are made of metal! So can any clever person out there explain why they are not hit by it?

I have wondered this myself lately so googled it. Each jet liner averaged one hit per year, but they have a magic tool called the static wick on the wings trailing edges and this takes the strike away from the main body of the plane, but a plane did crash in 1967 after being struck as the strike hit the fuel tank :scared:

Some reassuring answers would be good - the in-laws are due to land in Sydney in approx an hour! (rather them than me!)

Binbird

They do get hit all the time, and there is no damage because they are not earthed.

Paul

OMG!! :scared:
And it really is a nasty one at the moment.

Thanks for that Paul, so even if it gets hit it wont crash or affect the controls and stuff?

So, the plane might survive but I think Mother in Law's nerves might be in tatters!

Poor woman. Have a large drink at the ready when she gets there. (for her not you!!!..lol)

Is she a regular flier ? I find it a little entertaining (in a sad way) to watch a " new flier " on a plane, especially if they have a window seat behind the wings, I was on a domestic flight and the face of the middle aged woman during the final descent was a picture .........

Paul

Having flown through electric storms a fair few times - I can assure you it is a slightly worrying, albeit awesome experience!!

Like someone said, the aircraft is not earthed and unless the lightning strike comes into direct contact with something it is able to ignite (eg fuel), then the electricity will just dissipate away from the aircraft!

Pretty awesome when you can see the bolts hitting the aircraft and feel the judders and thuds though!!!

:scared:

Found a link explaining this in detail if anyone needs some re-assurance!!

Lightning Strikes on Aircraft

Someone obviously forgot to tell the average RAF pilot to avoid these storms then

Well thanks for the link... i think

I understood some of it but my brains tired now. I'll read it again in the morning.

Hi.

We flew through the mother of all lightning storms (over northern Borneo - which I think was the trailing edge of the typhoon that was passing through at the time?) on our way from Hong Kong to Sydney last month. It was night-time and my wife was contemplating changing into brown trousers at one point as the clouds all around us were lighting up with lateral and horizontal lightning (like flash-bulbs at the Olympic opening ceremony).

The bottom line is that we got to Sydney OK and I think that there is a good chance that the aircraft probably took a strike due to the ferocity of the storms raging all around.

The only down side was that I also had to change my wife at the same time that I changed our baby

oh great......

PMSL.. a sign of true love

A friend of ours is a 757 pilot for a charter airline. Last month he was making final approach to Lanzarote during a storm and the aircraft was struck by lightning. He made a perfect landing, however, on inspection of the aircraft a miniscule hole was found in the fuselage where it was struck. He was stuck in the Canaries for a few days while Boeing decided if it was safe to fly. It was and he returned home ok...not sure what happened to the plane, if they replaced the damaged bit or are just carrying on as normal though.....