Anatomy of a Commercial Aircraft Lightning Strike Event
JANUARY 03, 2013 BY LAWRENCE JUMAN PARRIS
The region is Florida, a geographical area which has a high frequency of thunderstorms and lightning activity. You are on a commercial aircraft climbing between 5000 to 15000 feet, through the clouds and rainy skies. These are the ideal conditions for an aircraft lightning strike.
During this phase a glow is seen by the pilots at the nose of the aircraft and some of the passengers whom, have a view of the wing tips from their respective seats, also witness the glow of visible ionization of the air flow surrounding these leading edges or sharp points on the airplane's structure.
Increasing electromagnetic field density at theses points is the primary factor causing the ionization.
A stepped leader "leaders" now extends from the ionized area of the aircraft seeking the large amount of lightning energy in a nearby cloud. Once the leader from the aircraft meets the leader from a cloud, a strike to the ground can continue and the airplane becomes part of the event.
The flight crew and passengers hear a loud noise and see a flash when the lightning strikes the aircraft.
As the strike pulses, the leader reattaches itself to other parts of the fuselage as the aircraft continues to be an electrical circuit between the cloud of opposite polarity. Current now travels through the aircraft's exterior which is conductive and finds an exit out through area such as the tail, seeking the opposite polarity or ground.
All is well as the aircraft electrical systems are designed to be resistant to lightning strikes. The aircraft's metal structures are also thick enough to protect from interior penetration and electromagnetic energy.
We land safely at our destination after experience and actively involved with one of nature's most powerful energy releasing events.