My dad is the mechanic for a company’s private
airplane. Rather than taking their
airplane to a facility like the Commander Aero for maintenance, the company
rents its own hangar and my dad works full-time on their plane. The airplane is fully equipped with a
kitchenette that has a microwave and fridge, a bathroom, televisions, and even
wi-fi. The ability to fly sometimes
international trips with such flexibility is crucial to the operation of the
organization. This week my dad told me
that the airplane had been struck by lightning.
For such a serious event, the airplane is flown to a service center ran
by the manufacturer, because the tests and repairs involved are not a one-man
job.
So, what exactly happens when an airplane is struck by
lightning? My dad’s short and sweet
version is that “lightning burns where it enters and leaves the aircraft (which
is usually multiple points), can magnetize parts you don’t want magnetized, and
alter the metal in the structures it goes through. That’s not counting the potential to screw up
any electronic stuff.” A lightning
strike to an airplane does not present much danger to passengers and pilots,
though, because similarly to being safe in a car during a thunder storm, a
lightning strike follows around the outer metal shell until it exits. In large airplanes, the pilot might not even
know that a lightning strike has occurred.
Due to prevention measures and regulation by the FAA, the last plane
crash to occur due to a lightning strike was in 1963.
If you’re curious about the topic, the links below can help
with your understanding:
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