Lightning Question

[Guest bullock_scfc]

im just a simple 16 year old english boy. im talkin to my friend on msn messenger and we were talking about when i was on an aeroplane and landed in Mexico during a lightning storm.

 

I say that if the lightning strikes the plane it will have no effect as we are not grounded.

 

He says that it will have an effect and will tear the plane in half.

 

who is right? either of us?

[drz]

hmm, I would say the ppl that get paid big bucks to design aircraft to not crash into the ground would consider the unlikely event that an airplane could get struck by lighting. I imagine, much like being in a car, that it will not destroy the plain. It may fry some electrical circuits, but I can't see lighting rip the plain apart.

 

Seems my guess is correct:

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-05-06-lightning-airplanes_x.htm

 

Protection begins with the fact that airliners, and the majority of other airplanes, are made of aluminum, which is a very good electrical conductor. A lightning bolt's electricity flows along the airplane's skin and into the air. As you've found out, one danger is that the flash could blind the pilots for a few seconds, but I've never found any accounts of this causing any problems.