Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lightening?

CaptainChris87

CaptainChris87

New Member
well I was just watching the news a group of boyscouts were under a tarp somewhere in the Los Angeles wilderness and were struck by lightnening and were killed, I was just wondering if there are or were any cases of pilots getting struck by lightening and it being fatal (hopefully not) ? any comments, stories, please. thank you
 
Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

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well I was just watching the news a group of boyscouts were under a tarp somewhere in the Los Angeles wilderness and were struck by lightnening and were killed, I was just wondering if there are or were any cases of pilots getting struck by lightening and it being fatal (hopefully not) ? any comments, stories, please. thank you

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What does it matter chris. Really..what does it matter. I swear...useless posts. Haha jk. But i got a story. Our family friend was up in his private jet, and got 2 lightening strikes on the same flight.
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Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

I saw a photo of a 737 with a bunch of damage to the fuselage due to numerous lightning strikes. Must suck to be in the air when that happens.
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Then again, shouldn't the pilot have avoided this in the first place?
 
Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

Lightning strikes at not *that* rare for aircraft, especially the RJs which are lightning magnets I have heard.

I think Chris is talking about on the ground, though, maybe?
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Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

Well on the ground shouldn't it be pretty much like a car? The rubber tires are touching the ground so really there should be no problem.
 
Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

I mean on the ground on foot. Like, doing a pre-flight. That would be the time I would be nervous.
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BTW, Lightning striking a car and being (relatively) safe(r) has nothing to do with the rubber. Common misconception. It is because the way the car is designed as a cage around the person, so the lightning flows around them and to the ground.

A car is not perfectly safe during a lightning strike. People have been killed/severely injured while being in a car.

A plane is actually a better example of safety in lightning than a car. Gas tends to like to ignite, and cars have fairly exposed tanks.


I think it is somewhat of a dangerous misconception too, because some people (not always the brightest ones) think that somehow rubber shoes or rubber tires on their bike will protect them.
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Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

On average, every comercial airliner gets hit by lightning twice a year.

Usually there is little dammage. Since the metal fuselage conducts the electricity around everybody, it's possible that the passengers might not even notice.


Last month I checked a 747 that had 40 lightning strike spots.
 
Been struck by lightning quite a few times, but the only time I experienced any damage was when it blew a fist-sized hole in the radome
 
Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

I've seen some 737s come in with paint bubbled or torched off the radome where they got hit. Never saw a hole in one, but I bet that was pretty intense, Doug.
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As far as on the ground, airplanes tend to be taller and have this big tails sticking up that tend to act like lightning rods. For that reason, if there are lightning strikes within 5 miles of the airport, everyone clears the ramp for safety reasons. Happens daily at MCO in the summertime, sometimes more than once or twice. It can be sunny and we might be under lightning restrictions due to pop-up storms.

So, next time your on a plane and see the rampers all stop loading bags, don't get mad at them, they have to leave. Doesn't matter if it's raining, sunny or "Well, jetBlue is still loading!" (my personal favorite).
 
Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

Usually, the most tell-tell signs of lightning strikes are along the fuselage where it looks like someone had some medium-grit sandpaper and scraped diagonally. I'll try and get some photos of it on my next trip.
 
Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

I haven't been struck by lightning YET. My grandpa was struck by lightning 3 times before he died due to circumstances not related to weather. He had 6 sons, one of which is my dad, and all of them have been struck by lightning at least once. As for me, its not a matter of IF I am going to get struck but just a matter of WHEN. I normally advise people not to stand near me when storms start rolling in.
 
Been a Pax in a 757 that was hit and it just blew about a silver dollar size worth of paint of the flap. I have seen 2 Saabs that were hit. 1 had damage to the nav lights and the other had a few static wicks melted off and a pin hole in the right flap.

As far as the Saabs go I have never seen any major damage to them. The book says the DC gens may go offline for up to 15 seconds but that didn't happen on either lightning strike.
 
Re: Any pilots GA,commercial, or military been sturck by lighteni

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As for me, its not a matter of IF I am going to get struck but just a matter of WHEN. I normally advise people not to stand near me when storms start rolling in.

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Have you thought about selling tickets?

Had planes "hit" maybe 3 or 4 time. Big flash and a big boom when you aren't expecting it. On a couple of them they found entry holes.

I'm not usually startled by loud noises. Going into SEA one day we got a hit, probably a big static discharge. Flash, boom, all centered on the nose, I start looking around the cockpit and the captain and SO are both trying to get as close to the floor as they can with their seatbelts still on. Had a lot of fun saying: "you can come back up guys, it's ok."
 
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Been struck by lightning quite a few times, but the only time I experienced any damage was when it blew a fist-sized hole in the radome

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When Lightning hits a metal part of the fuselage, all it does is damage the rivet that it hit. The rivet is simply drilled out and replaced.

If it hits a plastic part which cannot couduct the electricity it will burn a hole in it as it passes through. Radomes have metal strips that are supposed to conduct the lightning to the fuselage with out damageing it. But sometimes the lightning has it's own ideas.
 
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