coughpit Fire

[Ikara]

Now, this is a lightning strike [ coughpit fire ].........

Atlantic Southeast Airlines Lightning Strike: This Would Get Anyone's Attention

Thanks to one of our American Airlines' pilot friends who sent us these photos this morning of an Atlantic Southeast Airlines/Delta Connection aircraft, after it suffered a lightning strike.

If these photos don't scare the you-know-what out of you, I'm not sure what would.

As he said to me in his note, "Wonder what the Captain's seat cushion looked like after this..."

JB

 

[samh004]

It wasn't a lightning strike, in fact it was a coughpit fire in the circuit breaker panel, but it's making the rounds. source

DCA09FA033

Can anyone tell me if this is real though? Lightning strikes Qantas jet

Oh and here are additional photos of the above coughpit fire:

 

[Ikara]

Thanks Samhoo4....shoulda checked first! Damn. Perhaps this thread should be deleted if thats the case. Can't be spreading false information.

JB

 

[samh004]

Thanks Samhoo4....shoulda checked first! Damn. Perhaps this thread should be deleted if thats the case. Can't be spreading false information.

JB

Well there's always that youtube video I posted above... not sure if that's real or altered.

 

[ColinP]

I have no idea if Sam's youtube video of the lightning strike is real but I see no reason to believe it's not.
Many years ago I went through a humungous storm in a Boeing 707. There were numerous lightning strikes to the aircraft. The lightning appeared to go straight through the plane with no apparent damage. -- Very scary though.

 

[Evan]

I have no idea if Sam's youtube video of the lightning strike is real but I see no reason to believe it's not.
Many years ago I went through a humungous storm in a Boeing 707. There were numerous lightning strikes to the aircraft. The lightning appeared to go straight through the plane with no apparent damage. -- Very scary though.

Seen the similar thing down the corridor of a building that was struck by lightening as i was just near it :shock: scary !
I must attract it because i was out on our farm when younger and got a hit to a tree about 30 meters away, knocked my off my feet.

 

[NM]

Can anyone tell me if this is real though? Lightning strikes Qantas jet

No reason to disbelieve that video. Lightning strikes are very common on aircraft. But since the aircraft is not toughing anything else (i.e. sitting on the ground) the energy does not dissipate in the aircraft. Its like a bird sitting on a power line - so long as it only touches one wire is does not get electrocuted.

An aircraft that has been struck by lightning will usually be required to go through a fairly exhaustive series of system checks before returning to service.

Aircraft are designed such that certain parts are most likely to become entry and exit points for lightning. These are normally around the physical extremities such as wing-tips, nose, tail tip etc. Special materials are used to both attract the lightning and to minimise damage due to entry/exit.

It would be interesting to know how a composite airframe will be affected by lightning. I expect that is going to be part of the 787 certification process.

 

[samh004]

It would be interesting to know how a composite airframe will be affected by lightning. I expect that is going to be part of the 787 certification process.

Sort of hard to test as well, not like you just wait for a storm then fly into it and hope the plane is hit.

 

[codash1099]

It would be interesting to know how a composite airframe will be affected by lightning. I expect that is going to be part of the 787 certification process.

I believe they build conductive wiring into the panels.

 

[NM]

Sort of hard to test as well, not like you just wait for a storm then fly into it and hope the plane is hit.

There are some very large ground testing facilities that can generate "lightning" for safe observation of strikes. But as with most of what nature delivers, its impossible to simulate every possibility.

 

[munitalP]

I believe they build conductive wiring into the panels.

I hope so... you know, non-conductive wiring just wouldn't work! :shock:


Mr!

 

[samh004]

There are some very large ground testing facilities that can generate "lightning" for safe observation of strikes. But as with most of what nature delivers, its impossible to simulate every possibility.

There may be, but the plane/panel would be grounded, unless they have some special way to make it hover?

 

[munitalP]

There may be, but the plane/panel would be grounded, unless they have some special way to make it hover?

Pacific Gas & Electric (yeah - Ellen Brokovich) have the worlds largest lightning generator in San Francisco - some may have seen it on myth busters. They can create a lightning strike of over 3M long for a sustained period. (the longer the arc time, the more the surrounding air is ionized - the easier the sustaining of the arc)

I know they do a lot of testing of materials etc for both their internal power sector as well as the private sector. The panels would be sectionalised and the planes would be scale models mounted on Extra HV insulators.

Also remember that volts generally don't cause damage - its current which is the damaging component. Lightning is measured in hundreds of millions of volts however, generally between 5000A & 20,000A is recorded during a lightning strike.

Lightning current dies in less than a millisecond but often there is a continuing current of about 100 amps for a millisecond or so after the strike which is the most common cause of damage or fire.

Our facility in SYD has a lightning impulse generator that will generate a "strike" of a one hundred thousand Volts - it's a baby, I recently saw one in France with a "strike" capability of over one million Volts! Thats big...

This technology is used on a daily basis in the manufacture of high voltage equipment such as transformers and motors

Mr!

:shock:

 

[codash1099]

I hope so... you know, non-conductive wiring just wouldn't work! :shock:


Mr!

Non-conductive wire is used for the rest of the structure.

 

[NM]

Non-conductive wire is used for the rest of the structure.

I guess doing it with wireless technology could be called WiFri

 

[straitman]

It would be interesting to know how a composite airframe will be affected by lightning. I expect that is going to be part of the 787 certification process.

There is already quite a knowledge base on the topic.
Reminds me of an episode of Air Crash investigations where a Super Puma Helicopter in the North Sea lost its tail rotor due to a lightning strike. The aircraft had originally been certified with one type of tail rotor but this was later changed for a composite version without anyone thinking through all of the consequences. The lightning strike did not conduct quite as originally planned.