Originally published August 9 2005
Lightning strikes on airplanes is common
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Lightning strokes are common occurrences during flying, occurring an average once every 1,000 hours and poses no real threat unless it strikes while the plane is on the ground, as evidenced by Toronto's recent airbus crash.
New composite materials being used to replace aluminium do not offer this protection and are being coated with metal mesh to ensure the same defence.
The crash in Toronto involved an Air France Airbus A340 airliner from Paris which slewed off the runway at Pearson International Airport in a storm, ended in a ravine and burst into flames.
The 309 passengers and crew had managed to leave the aircraft with minor injuries before fire erupted.
Some of the survivors have suggested that lightning might have played a role in the accident, commenting that the lights had gone out immediately before the accident.
The French national office for aerospace study and research (ONERA) says on its Internet site: "Airliners are struck by lightnining once for every 1,000 hours of flight on average.
It's something which is often impressive, it makes a lot of noise in the aircraft and usually electrical power fails, but it's just as if it happens at home: the fuses jump, you put them back and everything works."
However, he added: "If it happens a few seconds before the wheels touch the ground or during the period of braking just after touch-down, it can affect the process of braking because the brake calculators are sensitive to changes in electrical power: they will certainly have to be reactivated so that they work properly, and it is quite possible that the brakes fail."
Usually, the electrical impact spreads across the surface of the aircraft "along the external skin, in aluminium alloy which is a very good conductor of electricity, and the fuselage and wings act as a Faraday cage," he explained in the magazine Planet-Aerospace.
Composite materials are less effective in deflecting lightning and manufacturers have turned to another way of providing a shield.
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