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How Dangerous Is Lightning to a Jetliner?
FOXNews By Andrea Thompson AP Undated photo taken at Houston’s George Bush International Airport shows the Air France Airbus 330-200 which has been reported missing. Video: Plane Vanishes Off Brazil; 228 Aboard The Associated Press Doubts over lightning’s role in missing jetliner Reuters Voice of America |
According to Fox News:
Lightning
A handful of jets have been blown up by lightning, including a Pan American flight in 1963 that killed 83 people. But radar and other improvements in weather forecasting now make thunderstorms — and their lightning — easier to avoid.
In the early 1980s, NASA flew a jet into a thunderstorm on a test. It was hit 72 times in 45 minutes and gave scientists valuable data.
Commercial planes are still hit about once a year, research from the University of Florida has shown.
A strike typically starts at a wingtip, nose or tail and courses through the aircraft’s skin, which is often made of aluminum — a good conductor.
Many strikes are initiated by the plane itself, and most occur during the climb to cruising altitude or descent and when the plane is in a cloud.
The plane’s lights might flicker, but most of the energy just heads back into the sky if there are no gaps in the aircraft’s skin.
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Editors Notes…
A scary thought indeed but it’s nice to know that in most cases lightening is really not a problem. But in the case of this plane no matter what the cause, it looks like they weren’t quite so lucky.
A sad, sad day for many folks. My thoughts and prayers are with them all. And right about now many of you out there in Albuquerque and beyond will be having similar thoughts as we all listen to the news updates on this story.
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