Curiosity #23 What happens when Lightning strikes your Airplane?

curiousity (55)in #science • 7 years ago (edited)

Did You Know "The average plane gets struck by lightning once a year".

Hey Everyone , welcome to the next episode of curiosity. Have you been afraid of flying during bad weather? Well lets find out the answer.

So, What happens when Lightning strikes your Airplane?

Well, the fact is in present time lightning almost never causes plane crashes. Planes are safe in thunderstorm conditions. But what makes it so safe in thunderstorms?. To answer this , we have to know , what materials the planes are made of.

Planes are generally made of metals like Aluminium and the part without aluminium are usually made of metal frames or glass fibers and carbon fibers. We all know metal are the good conductors of electricity.

When the good electricity conductors like these get hit by the lightning bolt, the atoms in the conductor push all those charges to the surface not letting any charge inside the plane. That means lighting never makes it to the inside when passengers , crew members and engines are. Its just flows on the planes surface.

This process is also Known as "Skin Effect". This effect is also the reason for being safe in a car during lightning. Tires have nothing to do with your safety. Its all the metal shell of the car which doesn't let the charge flow inside. The Skin effect is so effective that you would be completely safe in a aluminium cage just a few millimeters thick during a lightning bolt.

But in past , the story was different , engineers were not concerned about lightning hitting the plane , so some part of planes were vulnerable to the lightning. In 1963, The lightning went directly through the planes fuel tank and caused a massive explosion which killed all the 81 people on board. Sometimes even the skin effect can help out. Lightning can sometimes punch a hole in the thinner parts of the plane , which might cause electrical short-circuits. Sensitive electronics would stop working if this happens.

But Engineers have learned from their mistake, todays planes are vigorously tested over lighting strike conditions, and fuel itself has been changed over the past few decades.

So in the present world lightning is not the reason of plane crashes anymore and tends to do no harm.

So thats it guys, hope you all liked it, if you did upvote , resteem and comment thank you.