" Why the flying plane doesnt get strucked by lightning ??"?

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Don

Airplanes flying through thunderstorms are often struck by lightning. According to a government site dedicated to the Centennial of Flight, during the '80s a NASA F-106B jet was purposefully flown into 1,400 thunderstorms and was struck by lightning over 700 times.
Most commercial flights avoid the turbulent center of thunderstorms by flying over or around them. Perhaps more importantly, all commercial airplanes are outfitted with protective equipment. The shells of airplanes are generally made of either aluminum (an excellent conductor of electricity) or composite that contains conductive fibers so if the plane is struck, the lightning travels along the exterior of the plane then out into the open air. Sensitive electrical equipment is shielded with surge protectors and grounding devices. The FAA tests every crucial piece of flying and landing equipment against lightning.

According to this fascinating Lightning and Flight Quiz, on average every airplane in the United States is struck by lightning at least once a year. Lightning strikes have been implicated in only a handful of crashes worldwide. Lightning hasn't caused a U.S. airliner crash in about 40 years.

mamour

some planes have gotten strucked by lightening before
it is rare ,
What happens when an aircraft is struck by lightning?

Although passengers and crew may see a flash and hear a loud noise, nothing serious should happen because of the careful lightning protection engineered into the aircraft and its sensitive components. Initially, the lightning will attach to an extremity, such as the nose or wing tip. The airplane then flies through the lightning flash, which reattaches itself to the fuselage at other locations while the airplane is in the electric "circuit" between the regions of opposite polarity. The current will travel through the conductive exterior skin and structures of the aircraft and exit off some other extremity, such as the tail. Pilots occasionally report temporary flickering of lights or short-lived interference with instruments. We have heard reports of the activation of cabin oxygen masks; no doubt frightening for the passengers.

How is an aircraft protected from lightning?

Most aircraft skins are made primarily of aluminum, which is a very good conductor of electricity. By making sure that there are no gaps in this conductive path, the engineer can assure that most of the lightning current will remain on the exterior skin of the aircraft. Some modern aircraft are made of advanced composite materials, which by themselves are significantly less conductive than aluminum. In this case, the composites are made with an embedded layer of conductive fibers or screens designed to carry lightning currents. These designs are thoroughly tested before they are incorporated in an aircraft.

Modern passenger jets have miles of wires and dozens of computers and other instruments that control everything from the engines to the passengers' music headsets. These computers, like all computers, are sometimes susceptible to upset from power surges. So, in addition to the design of the exterior of the aircraft, the lightning protection engineer must assure that no damaging surges or transients can be induced into the sensitive equipment inside of the aircraft. Lightning traveling on the exterior skin of an aircraft has the potential to induce transients into wires or equipment beneath the skin. These transients are called lightning indirect effects. Problems caused by indirect effects in cables and equipment are averted by careful shielding, grounding and the application of surge suppression devices when necessary. Every circuit and piece of equipment that is critical or essential to the safe flight and landing of an aircraft must be verified by the manufacturers to be protected against lightning in accordance with regulations of the FAA or a similar authority in the country of the aircraft's origin.

The other main area of concern is the fuel system, where even a tiny spark could be disastrous. Therefore, extreme precautions are taken to assure that lightning currents cannot cause sparks in any portion of an aircraft's fuel system. The aircraft skin around the fuel tanks must be thick enough to withstand a burn through. All the structural joints and fasteners must be tightly designed to prevent sparks as lightning current passes from one section to another. Access doors, fuel filler caps and any vents must be designed and tested to withstand lightning. All the pipes and fuel lines that carry fuel to the engines, and the engines themselves, must be verified to be protected against lightning. In addition, new fuels that produce less explosive vapors are now widely used.

Radomes are the nose cones of aircraft that contain radar and other flight instruments. The radome is an area of special concern for lightning protection engineers. In order to function, radar cannot be contained within a conductive enclosure. Protection is afforded by the application of lightning diverter strips along the outer surface of the radome. These strips can be solid metal bars or a series of closely spaced buttons of conductive material affixed to a plastic strip that is bonded adhesively to the radome. These strips are sized and spaced carefully according to simulated lightning attachment tests, while at the same time not significantly interfering with the radar. In many ways, diverter strips function like a lightning rod on a building.

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schaianne

Actually, sometimes it does strike the plane. Most of the time an airplane flies above the weather so it's not an issue, though. When it does hit the plane, it just scatters and doesn't do any real damage, usually. See the below link for a more scientific explanation! =)

skyhigh

"strucked"????????????????

They do, I have been on one when it was "strucked".

Private_Jet_Charter

Here is a news story of a jet being struck by lightning: http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1848938,00.html . This does happen on a frequent basis and jets are now designed to take a strike.

soccerknocker199

it does get struck sometimes but it has wire that direct the lighting out and off the airplane so it dosnt aquire damage during the flight

redacatfish

They are not grounded but could get struck if their electrical system is in a potential negative charge.

vintageprincess72

The plane flies above the clouds or the layer where the weather conditions are occurring.

So technically, the lightning is BELOW the plane, of course it wouldn't strike the plane.

Sir Digby Chicken Bhuna

An object needs to be touching the ground - thats what lightening is looking for.

shane w

for lightning to strike an object, there should be a complete circuit of the electric current i.e it should be earthed. Since the aeroplane is not touching the ground, the circuit is not completed and therefore the aeroplane is not struck by lightning.

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