Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
Damaged by nature
Are lightning dangerous to airplanes?
Embraer E195-E2
KLM
Embraer
Rafael Ramos
3/15/2021
Recently, the Embraer E195-E2 was incorporated into the Dutch KLM fleet. After about a month a natural incident occurred, but it was nothing serious.
The PH-NXA registration aircraft, the first of the model to enter the fleet, was flying normally when, on approach, it encountered bad weather in the German capital.
Avião atingido por raio no nariz
danos parciais na fuselagem
Snuff NZ
Landing took place normally and safely. The plane taxied normally and the passengers disembarked. The plane, however, cannot take off again and has been referred for maintenance due to lightning damage. The incident occurred on March 11.
Lightning alone is not dangerous for aviation. Passengers report, during the lightning strike, that a flash occurs and a noise is heard. The pilots, in addition to the flash and noise, report that there may be momentary oscillations in the instruments and instability in the lights. But nothing more than that.
That's because the plane is carefully insulated in the most sensitive parts. The fuselage is also conductive, in order to receive the lightning from one end and release all the cargo from the other end. For example, the cargo arrives at the plane through the nose, passes through the entire fuselage and exits through the tail.
After an accident with a Boeing 707 in 1963, in which lightning struck the plane and caused an explosion in the fuel tank, which killed 81 people, the industry had to review the entire design of the aircraft. Now, both the fuel tanks and the pipes are heavily reinforced, in order to withstand extremely high temperatures without problems.
Generally, aircraft liners are made of aluminum, which is a good conductor of electricity. However, on newer aircraft, this coating may be made of other composite materials, which in itself is not conductive. In this case, engineers coat this material with conductive plates or conductive screens, solving the problem.
It is estimated that each commercial aircraft in Brazil receives at least one lightning per year, although this is not always noticeable.
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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