Lightning strike?
 

Topical question with this weeks weather.

When an aircraft gets hit by a bolt of lightning, does it mean it just happened to fly through some lightning, or does it arc specificaly to the aircraft, or is it arcing from the aircraft to the ground?

[This message has been edited by buck-rogers (edited 30 October 2000).]

The sheer frequency of lightning hits I am certain is above chance. Therefore the aircraft 'attracts' lightning. The ionisation of the cloud induces an opposite charge on the airframe and therefore increases likelihood of a discharge to or via the airframe. Especially the pointy bits. Like a lightning conductor on a high building. Can anyone recall the link featured on pprune about 4 months ago showing a video clip of an aircraft struck by lightning at Nagano? A strike from cloud to ground or more correctly from ground to cloud can be seen to pass via the aircraft!
Not to pass close by but miss randomly as might be expected by chance.

Statistics indicate that a commercial airliner suffers a lightning attachment at least once per year.

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The Cat

Found the link. Looks like it was Osaka not Nagano. Scary stuff! http://lightning.pwr.eng.osaka-u.ac....emp/plane.html

Thanks guys,

if I had known that's what it looked like from the outside I wouldn't have laughed so much when I was on the inside last year.