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How often do planes get struck by lightning?
Other statistics, from the Federal Aviation Administration, share that a plane is likely to be struck by lightning once every 1,000 flight hours. When you break down the average length of flights and trips per year, this accounts to roughly one lightning strike per year per aircraft.
Is it dangerous when an aircraft is struck by lightning?
Lightning, though fearsome, is not dangerous to the airplane or passengers. Even if there is a direct strike, it does not penetrate the cabin nor affect the engines or fuel tanks. In fact, statistics have shown that an airplane is struck by lightning’s at least once in every two years.
Does lightning always hit an airplane when it is flying?
It is estimated that on average, each airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year . In fact, aircraft often trigger lightning when flying through a heavily charged region of a cloud. In these instances, the lightning flash originates at the airplane and extends away in opposite directions.
Do airplanes explode when hit by lightning?
The last reported plane accident caused by lightning was in the United States in 1967, when lightning hit a plane’s fuel tank and caused it to spark and explode. This prompted a demand for planes that have better protection against lightning. Commercial planes are thought to be more likely to be struck by lightning than private planes because non-commercial planes are smaller and have more control over not scheduling flights in bad weather.
How do airplanes survive lightning?
Airplanes are designed to withstand hundreds of thousands of amperes of electricity-far more electricity than a lightning bolt can deliver. An airplane’s first round of defense is ensuring that fuel tanks and fuel lines are fully encased so that it almost impossible for a lightning spark to trigger a fuel explosion.