[güttsfükk]

news feature + HD vid of the strike

while searching for info on the 1967 crash i came across this which i thought was quite interesting

Of course, lightning can still do some serious damage if a tiny spark infiltrates the fuel system. That's what happened the last time a commercial plane crashed in the US due to lightning, in 1967: a spark from the lightning ignited in the fuel tank and caused a big explosion. Tons of precautions are in place today to protect the fuel system from a repeat occurrence, and thus far they've proven perfectly sufficient. Ditto for all that electronic equipment inside. Despite all these safety precautions, in the case of my Buenos Aires flight, the lightning strike occurred while the aircraft was grounded. Apparently this makes a difference. There wasn't any structural damage, and certainly no explosion ("Big Plane Go BOOM!"), but it did mess up the computerized instrument panel and guidance systems. The 12-hour delay came about because the airline wisely decided to wait for a replacement airplane rather than attempt to repair the damaged one on such short notice. Irritating though it was, I'd much rather have a 12-hour delay than have the navigation system short out mid-flight. (Jen-Luc Piquant really likes watching the little real-time electronic map on the video screen, detailing the plane's progress.)

to read all of it : http://twistedphysics.typepad.com/co...ing_crash.html

[kellyhound]

Happens more often than we think but rare to catch it on cam

[spiderboy]

My friend was on a flight from Miamia when they got struck by lightening and it dropped 10,000 ft immediately. The pilot assured them that planes are built to stand such occurences.

[vulturedoors]

This is pretty common, and yeah, planes are deliberately designed to tolerate it.

[chefbob09]

and this is one of the many reasons i hate flying

[Faline]

nice

[mirrormere]

umm...incredible video (in terms of catching the bolt) but talk about meaningless news filler...guess there was nothing else of importance worth talking about. :\

[güttsfükk]

Originally Posted by mirrormere ↗

umm...incredible video (in terms of catching the bolt) but talk about meaningless news filler...guess there was nothing else of importance worth talking about. :\

i think a rare occurrence of catching lightning striking a plane is more newsworthy than the same news we hear every day about someone being killed or kidnapped, or some country going to war, or some protestors being shot, or some country being struck by an earthquake or a volcano erupting somewhere.