Ever had your plane zapped by lightning?

John Baker

John Baker

Final Approach
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John Baker
On the news tonight there was a story about an Airbus that got zapped big time by lightning. They went on to say how lightning will just bounce along the aluminum skin of the airplane until it (the lightning) dissipates into the atmosphere.

So this is a three part question.

1) Will that still work on composite airliners and small airplanes?

2) Have you, in your GA aircraft, ever been zapped while in flight, and what were you flying?

3) was there any damage?

John
 
An aircraft still produces static electricity no matter what its made of, right? (serious question)
What effect does that have on a lightning strike?
 
I do believe certified composites have embedded grids to carry electrical charges. Composites without, well, avoid lightning or wear a parachute.

Ernie
 
I almost bid on a sailplane for sale by the insurance company after being hit by lightning in flight. The problem was trying to determine if there was any structural damage. It was hit which shattered the Canopy and burnt the Static leads on the controls. Also fused the Ball Bearings in the controls momentarily but the pilot was able to break them loose and safely land the sailplane. If it had been a all fiberglass airplane we probably would have bid on it. But it had a carbon spar that we were afraid might have heated up and damaged the structure.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
I've had to do many lightning strike repairs on Malibus. The normal strike is on the prop then it exits out through any primary flight control or flap, normally a series of small holes are blown out on the trailing edge. I had one that discharged out through the side of the aft fuselage.

I repaired my Malibu (before I owned it) after a strike. It took it in the prop and blew it out through the left flap and rudder tip.

Many people never knew they were hit.

kevin
 
I was sitting in an aisle seat of a commercial flight about 8 or 10 years ago and during climbout about six rows in front of me there was an arc from the cieling to the floor. The cabin lights went out for probably about five seconds, which seemed like five minutes. Then the lights came back on and the Captain announced that everything was fine, we simply experienced a "static discharge." Yep, lightening is indeed a static dscharge. We finished our flight normally.

Doc
 
I got hit by lightning in a T-38 way back in pilot training. It was an.... energizing.... experience.

Seriously though it scared the crap out of me. I was writing a clearance with my right hand and holding the stick with my left. The charge went up my left arm and arced from my cheek to the canopy. DO NOT fly through thunderstorms no matter how fast you are going. (in my defense, I was in the back seat under the hood - an actual hood over the entire rear cockpit so you can't see ANYTHING - so the instructor was supposed to be keeping us clear of weather)
 
I was riding in a 757 when it was hit leaving SFO. No big deal, although there appeared to be a little staticball rolled down the aisle.

TV news about the A380 incident was over the top with fear mongering. Another reason to hate May sweeps.
 
A King Air B-200 that I acquired for a client had been struck by lightning on consecutive flights. After the first strike, they performed the required inspection, which included a partial engine tear-down. On the next flight, the other side took the hit. Airplane was based in Atlanta at the time. I was told (but did not verify) that the SE is well-known for such activity.
 
ebetancourt said:
I do believe certified composites have embedded grids to carry electrical charges. Composites without, well, avoid lightning or wear a parachute.

Ernie
Click to expand...

IFR ones must be able to conduct it to the air, VFR only planes, notsomuch.
 
If I ever venture close enough to a thunderstorm to take on lightning, Mrs. Steingar is welcome to hide the keys.
 
Never been directly zapped but have had my plane build up enough static skin charge that the radios and gps stop working. The plane didn't have static wicks. I was probably a few volts shy of having a lightening or other shocking event.
 
Took a hit while riding as self loading cargo on a DASH-8 a few years ago. LOUD and BRIGHT. Once the pilots got the generators back on-line all was well. Arrived at destination on time.
 
John Baker said:
On the news tonight there was a story about an Airbus that got zapped big time by lightning. They went on to say how lightning will just bounce along the aluminum skin of the airplane until it (the lightning) dissipates into the atmosphere.

So this is a three part question.

1) Will that still work on composite airliners and small airplanes?

2) Have you, in your GA aircraft, ever been zapped while in flight, and what were you flying?

3) was there any damage?

John
Click to expand...

I've been hit four times (all as a pilot on a Part 25 a/c). They were all mostly non-events. Bright flash, sometimes you can hear a buzz in the headset, and then it's all over. Only once did it affect the instruments in any way (lost the radios for a few seconds), otherwise we couldn't tell from the cockpit that anything had happened (other than the bright flash, of course).

Three of those strikes were in a mostly composite plane. As somebody else mentioned, most composite aircraft (or even composite components) have either a metal mesh or some sort of static wicking paint under the outer layer of paint.

My first strike was a good one. We both saw the actual bolt hit the (composite) nose cone, right in front of my windshield and heard a loud pop in the headsets. A few minutes later, the FAs called and asked if we had see it. We asked them what they saw...both said that the lightning had arced across every window all the way back, and the props were lit up with St. Elmo's Fire right before the actual strike.

During the post flight I never found much more than a small burn mark on the belly or underside of the flight controls. We did have a plane, though, get struck and it blew off a 4-square-inch piece of the trailing edge of the elevator.
 
I've had lightning strikes 2 different times in 2 different Falcon 50s.

The first had some damage on the radar dome where there was some corrosion under the bonding straps allowing an arc across where the dome attached to the fuselage.

The second no damage.

Bonding straps are laid accross any break in the continuity of the skin, such as hinges, bearings, etc. As long as the bonding straps are in good condition allowing no arcing accross openings and the static wicks on the trailing edges are in good shape there should be no damage.
 
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