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Old Sep 30, 2011, 2:15 am
  #1  
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Lightning Strikes Plane

Not sure if this was reported on this forum, but it's the first time i have seen it and the picture and videos are incredible.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-Heathrow.html
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 6:03 am
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do EK planes attract lightning strikes? a few years ago, i was on a LHR-DXB EK plane, it was a 777 not an A380, and while on descent into DXB there was a storm. lightning struck the plane. inside, we all heard the loud pop which accompanied the flash of light. some pax yelled out in terror, while it was only a brief one.

the captain came on the PA and assured us everything was okay. landing was perfect too. while the plane was unscathed, i, on the other hand came out of the plane with a popped blood vessel in my right eye. it was the freakiest thing as my right eye was totally bloodshot. unfortunately this was in dec, nowhere near Halloween so what a waste!
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 12:18 pm
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This somehow looks beautiful to me.

I had sat in planes flying into thunderstorms but never seen lightning striking planes.

^^
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 12:33 pm
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Headline "Lighting Strikes Plane" might as well be "Human Born Today!" Happens all the time, and planes are designed to be a Farady cage that accepts and discharges electricity. A couple of quick maintenance checks and that plane was probably on time for the next flight.

The only different thing here is the picture--not a bad shot.
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 12:34 pm
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Amazingly, the Emirates service from Dubai landed safely minutes later
While this is a great picture, it is certainly not "amazing" that the plane landed safely minutes later. According to this site, each passenger plane is the US is hit by lightning an average of about once per year, which works out to dozens of strikes a day. If lightning strikes typically caused crashes, almost all planes flying would only be a year or two old, and flying would be more dangerous than driving drunk.
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 12:49 pm
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This happens all the time. The reason it is harmless is because the aircraft is not grounded.
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 4:19 pm
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I find it amusing that the article both states that the plane landed "amazingly...with not even a scratch " and that "Planes get hit several times a year - they act as a conductor"

‘If it didn’t have the metal, the plane could explode when hit.’
To answer the yet-to-be-asked 787 question - it was indeed a significant design issue. Building the 787 | When lightning strikes

Last edited by CPRich; Oct 1, 2011 at 3:12 pm
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 9:13 pm
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A standard story sensationalized..

Lightning hitting planes is a regular occurence.. the airplane is setup to withstand lightning going through it..
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 9:41 pm
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Originally Posted by pinworm
This happens all the time. The reason it is harmless is because the aircraft is not grounded.
It has happens to me during my flight JFK-PHX last 4 years ago. We saw thunderstorm over Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and before descent approach imto PHX around midnight. We were gone onto the trip to JFK for a few days. It was so incredible that I saw thunderstorm where I sitting on the plane with my cousin.
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Old Sep 30, 2011, 10:48 pm
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As has been said, lightning hits airplanes every single day. The most likely impact to the airplane is a small, about the size of a #2 pencil lead, burn mark on the aircraft skin. It is usually dealt with by a minor blending out of the damage. Sometimes you have to drill it out and put a small aluminum rivet in the hole to seal it up.

It's more of a maintenance annoyance than an inflight safety issue.
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Old Oct 1, 2011, 7:42 pm
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Originally Posted by planemechanic
As has been said, lightning hits airplanes every single day. The most likely impact to the airplane is a small, about the size of a #2 pencil lead, burn mark on the aircraft skin. It is usually dealt with by a minor blending out of the damage. Sometimes you have to drill it out and put a small aluminum rivet in the hole to seal it up.

It's more of a maintenance annoyance than an inflight safety issue.
This would be the worst damage experienced.. most of the time lightning strikes to no effect or repair.. simply the plane is equipped and engineered to handle lightning strikes..
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Old Oct 2, 2011, 3:09 pm
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Originally Posted by alpinecow
Headline "Lighting Strikes Plane" might as well be "Human Born Today!" Happens all the time, and planes are designed to be a Farady cage that accepts and discharges electricity. A couple of quick maintenance checks and that plane was probably on time for the next flight.

The only different thing here is the picture--not a bad shot.
Hence the thread What did you want the thread title to be? 'Lighting Strikes Plane the only different thing here is the picture'
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Old Oct 2, 2011, 3:41 pm
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Originally Posted by paxx
Hence the thread What did you want the thread title to be? 'Lighting Strikes Plane the only different thing here is the picture'

"Great pic of lightning striking plane" would be a good one
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