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This week a new video captured in the exact place and moment shows the impact of lightning on a Boeing 777 KLM taking off from Amsterdam to Lima with flight number KL743, but can lightning cause a plane crash?
I invite you to read the special about Fear to fly in relation to the fear that images of lightning striking planes are generating these days.
The quick answer is: NO and this is for a simple reason, planes act like a faraday cage.
What is a Faraday Cage?
The Faraday cage is a metal box that protects against static electric fields., inside, the electric field is zero and it is used to protect against electric shocks, used in biomedical laboratories, reverb chambers, in telecommunications, among others.
Taken from Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo.
But in simple terms this means that a plane, components, fuel tanks, etc. They are a metal box due to the components with which they are created and inside the electric field is zero, Therefore, when lightning strikes the fuselage, it does not enter and the charge passes through the aircraft and continues its journey.. For there to be an electrical interaction, it is necessary that 2 points have different electric potential, as the plane is in the air, and is shocked has a single electric potential, the other is the earth where the lightning is directed and discharges its energy.
In other words, the plane acts only as a conductor of electrical energy., which passes through its structure and is directed to discharge into the earth. It is similar to when a bird rests on a power line. It does not die because it has only one electrical potential.. It would be different if the bird's other leg touched the ground.
What happens when lightning strikes a plane?
On very few occasions, lightning can cause small problems on a flight.. For example damaging the weather radar, generar pequeños «golpes» o indicar alguna alarma en la cabina de los pilotos y esto generará que el vuelo deba regresar a su aeropuerto de salida o a uno alterno, but cause an accident, NO.
Nevertheless, when an aircraft is struck by lightning, it is subjected to a lightning strike check, where the coloration or change of color and the state of the rivets are checked. In case of changes, the conductivity of the aircraft will be checked, the state of the static checks is reviewed and the affected area is repaired.
In most cases, when lightning strikes a plane, neither the passengers nor the pilots find out about the event. It is said that an airplane is hit by 1 lightning bolt every 1000 hours of flight and it is a more common event than is believed, but that never jeopardizes the operation of an aircraft. For this same reason, aircraft are regularly inspected for faults., where a lightning strike that was not detected by the crew can be properly inspected.
It should be noted that a lightning discharge releases between 1.000 and 10.000 million joules of energy, with a current of up to 200.000 amps and 100 million volts.
Regarding the subject of the Faraday Cage, there is a common conceptual error when trying to explain the phenomenon of atmospheric discharges in airplanes (or automobiles). The concept of zero electric field inside a metallic "shell" is only applicable in ELECTROSTATICS (no moving loads). When there are circulating currents and, even more, time-varying, the electric field inside is not zero. This is proved mathematically from Maxwell's equations. An example of this occurs precisely with lightning that has currents (you mention it) extremely high and very short duration. On the other hand, it is not at all true that, By the simple fact that the current circulates through the metal "shell", the situation is completely safe.. The flow of current through a conductor has obvious limitations that depend on its capacity to withstand the flow of current.. This is related to the areas of greatest resistance that can overheat or present high voltage drops, generating INTERNAL sparks.. This is the case of unions of parts of the "shell" that can be riveted (In most cases) the soldiers. If the joined surfaces have paint on the surface the issue is further complicated by the increased contact resistance.. To this must undoubtedly be added the fact that if any branch of current covers a circuit of, for example,, communication, O well, the same electromagnetic field induces currents in this. Then, navigation or communication equipment would be affected. Although the subject is complex, it is very interesting and I do not think it warrants shallow analysis.. For any questions or queries, available. Kind regards.
very good explanation, thank you very much for your great contribution.