AA FLT#134 MIA-SEA struck by lightning 1 Sep 2017
 

Wow! I just heard the news tonight. Can't you guys believe this?

AA FLT#134 MIA-SEA tonight, but the plane got struck by lightning. They had return to MIA. Nobody who got hurts. This aircraft will be taken out of service. They will put on another aircraft, but they will departed from MIA at 1:30am on Saturday.

http://wsvn.com/news/local/plane-lan...htning-strike/

I read about that. Scary. But fortunately, aircraft are pretty safe even from lightning. Now they'll inspect and sort the aircraft, and do whatever repairs are necesssry, before they let it fly again.

My last lightning hit experience was ca 1958, LAX-MEX, on a Mexicana DC-6. That flight was a memorable mess, ultimately with an engine out over the sierra, and a second engine out on approach to MEX with only one pilot (the captain has taken ill and was removed to the aft lounge). I flew a lot more Western Airlines after that, until MX started flying Comet 4-Cs on the MEX-LAX route.

This is a general article on the problem: http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-to...ion-161993347/. There was an FT thread about the 787 a while back and there is a video of early tests showing what happens with and without the metallic layer that is added to protect the composite but I can't find it with a quick look.

Thanks! I was able to find this thread here (E175), (not the 787 one):

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ng-strike.html.

This is the video I was thinking of (actually from Airbus): http://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-e...n-planes-safer

While it can be scary when it happens, it's helpful to remember that on average, each airframe gets hit by lighting once a year. It's quite common- happened to me three times already. Precautions are always to inspect the aircraft upon landing to identify where the lightning penetrated the aircraft and make repairs accordingly.

A few years ago I was flying from the West Coast to JFK as the FO and I was pilot flying. The weather around New York was awful and while we were maneuvering around to try to get to the final approach we heard a loud bang and saw a huge flash. There may have been a bump as well, but the ride was bumpy anyway so I don't actually remember if there was.

After maneuvering around trying to get in, we diverted to BWI. When the mechs came on board, they showed us what looked like a row of BB shots right behind the Fwd entry door (where they said it hit) and they said there was a black burn mark on the top of the right wing-tip where it exited.

I don't think I had ever gotten so many thanks from passengers (and a few hugs) as they were deplaining.

What's the unbelievable part?

Twice for me. One was a departing AA 727 on the ground at BNA and the other was a DL D8S in the air over Connecticut. The AA aircraft returned to the gate for inspection and if I recall correctly was dispatched with not too long a delay. The DL flight continued to ATL without further incident.

Hasn't happened to me since the days of Northwest Airlines. It's shocking (no pun intended) when it happens, but it's not usually a big deal.