Severe electromagnetic storm impact on commercial A/C in flight!

[Jetpipe.]

I don't know if this has been brought up before but what impact would a i.e. severe solar storm have on commercial aviation in flight? I guess everything electrical shuts down but how about the engines, ignition, EECs or FADECs? I guess since fuel control goes via these Electronic control units, if they shut down then fuel flow also shuts down? Does that mean we will be flying gliders on standby instruments if this happens? :confused:

[flarepilot]

dear jetpipe

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[DozyWannabe]

I'm far from an expert, but I would think that the shielding and structural conductors should be enough to prevent serious mishap. Worth remembering that scheduled Concorde flights were subject to a greater degree of solar radiation day-in and day-out for 27 years with no extra untoward effects.

[Ian W]

It might prove more interesting if it was a Carrington Event Solar storm of 1859 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859#Carrington_Super_Flare)

These flares give the equivalent of an Electromagnetic Pulse but lasting for a longer time. Not sure what the effect on aircraft electrics would be the last time it happened there were no electronics to be upset.

[DozyWannabe]

@Ian W:

Useful summary here:
A Super Solar Flare - NASA Science (http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/)

In short, it seems that satellites and broadcast communications may be affected by a Carrington Event, but shielded electronics of the kind used on aircraft would have a reasonable degree of protection.

It would have a far less disruptive effect than the much-feared electro-magnetic pulse (EMP), but given that the only thing that can trigger one of those is a nuclear detonation in the Earth's atmosphere, I'd be inclined to suggest that should one of those be encountered, an EMP messing with your electronics would be the least of your worries!

[catiamonkey]

A solar storm is not as bad as a direct lightning hit, which is tens of thousands of amps flowing right through the body of the aircraft. That happens on a regular basis with no ill effects, so you can conclude that solar storms will have minimal direct effects.

Solar storms will mess up HF communications... time to rely on satcom.

[tdracer]

Catiamonkey has it right - FADEC (and any systems other that go outside the fuselage) are heavily shielded for things like lightning and HIRF. Electronics that are contained inside the pressure vessel are also shielded, but the threat is lower due to the shielding provided by the fuselage. If you're wondering, the 787 systems were designed for higher threats because the carbon fiber fuselage doesn't provide as much shielding as aluminum. Solar storms are pretty minor compared to the threats that we design for.

Several years ago Boeing was working on a specially modified 767-400ER, I think it was called an 'E-10'. Basically they were going to put a big, zillion watt ground search radar under the fuselage (they needed the extra length of the 767-400 to make it fit forward of the landing gear). Dual 150 KVA generators on both engines to power it.:eek:

Anyway, this radar was going to be direct line of sight to one engine's FADEC. I got a call from someone on the military side, wanted to know how much HIRF the FADEC could handle. I responded we tested to 200 volts/meter average field - what's your requirement? 'Can't tell you that, it's classified - what can you handle'. Again I responded 'we tested to 200 v/m, we didn't test to failure - how much more do you need?' 'That's classified'....:mad:

I was somewhat relieved when that program got cancelled..:sad:

[MrSnuggles]

Solar flares, as Northern Lights, can affect GPS navigation. Usually this is not a problem, but as the aviation industry goes towards more GPS based navigation it might be worth looking into.