Lightning strikes on airplanes are not rare, and usually do not have a serious impact. An airplane is designed to withstand a powerful bolt of lightning without compromising the safety of the people inside.
"But in the past, it has happened." From the 1940s to the 1960s, Plumer said, "there were plane crashes, there were fuel tank explosions, there were effects on electronic systems … and that happened more frequently than we care to remember." So, it is not a myth. Lightning can take down airplanes.
Most airplanes have a thick, external metal that is sufficiently thick enough to resist lightning strikes. The thick exterior metal prevents a lightning strike's electromagnetic energy from entering critical spaces, including: Interior of aircraft. Electrical wires.
Pilots should observe the following rules for any flight routed even potentially near actual or possible thunder- storm activity: Avoid all thunderstorms. Never go closer than 5 miles to any visible storm cloud with overhanging areas, and strongly consider increas- ing that distance to 20 miles or more.
This happens because an aircraft's fuselage, or body, acts as a Faraday cage (a container that blocks electromagnetic fields). Energy and electric charge from the lightning bolt run around the outside of the vessel, protecting the interior from any voltage.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), lightning hits airplanes once every 1000 hours of flight time, or once per year. The time of year when airplanes are mostly faced with the problems of lightning strikes is during the summer months.
Answer: Thunderstorms, particularly, may be hazardous to airplanes. Violent up and down drafts can cause structural failure. Consequently, pilots do not fly into thunderstorms. Using onboard weather radar and working with air traffic control, pilots deviate around areas where there are thunderstorms.
Bird strikes usually don't deal major damage to an aircraft, but the collision is fatal for the birds most of the time. The majority of accidents caused by bird strikes occur when the bird is either sucked into the engine of a jet or when the bird flies into the windscreen.
Flying is still considered to be the safest way to travel, but accidents can happen. Roughly, there are between 70-90 plane crashes per year worldwide, including both commercial planes and privately-owned ones.
While windscreens are very strong, there are many cases where large birds at high speeds have overpowered the windscreen and cracked it. In some rare cases, some large birds have even penetrated the cockpit as the windscreen failed.
Theoretically, it could fly longer because all commercial planes land with a regulated diversion and reserve fuel and never with zero fuel. As such, the answer is that it could stay more than 20 hours in the air before running out of fuel.
Can a Plane Fly in a Thunderstorm? So, do planes fly in thunderstorms? Well, the simple answer is yes, they do. In fact, statistics show that thunderstorms have very little impact on flight schedules and are not likely to cause too many issues like delays or flight cancellations.
Modern aircraft can generate lift regardless of the heaviness of the rain. Planes can and will take off and land in the rain. The only real problem with heavy rainfall is the decrease in visibility for the pilots.
A leading reason for avoiding storms is simply to make the flight smoother. Strong winds can seriously affect aircraft movement. Most of this is due to clear air turbulence - caused by variations in wind velocity.
NTSB recorded 40 lightning-related aircraft accidents. There were 10 commercial airplane accidents reported, 4 of which were associated with 260 fatalities and 28 serious injuries. There were 30 private aircraft accidents that accounted for 30 fatalities and 46 serious injuries.
It's almost unheard of for turbulence to cause a crash, but it can lead to costly repairs for carriers. Usually, the damage is to cabin components like seats and overhead bins when luggage falls out or people hit them. Turbulence-related damage, delays and injuries cost airlines up to $500 million per year.
Crosswinds greater than 50-60 km/h may cause airlines to delay or cancel flights. Even lower gusts can trigger flight delays or cancellations if the runways are wet or icy, as stiff winds can reduce a plane's ability to brake on the runway.
These cloud-borne updrafts and downdrafts result in rapid and unpredictable changes to the lift force on the wings of an aircraft. More or less lift and the difference between these changes is what causes the aircraft to lurch and jump about during flight, or turbulence as it is called within the industry.
There is no single maximum wind limit as it depends on the direction of wind and phase of flight. A crosswind above about 40mph and tailwind above 10mph can start to cause problems and stop commercial jets taking off and landing.
Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of nerve-racking situations, but that doesn't mean that they don't get scared—especially in these real instances, told by the pilots who experienced them, of serious in-flight fear.
The Horizon
Whether flying at night or during the day, pilots need to see some kind of horizon. They use this to determine the airplane's attitude. At night pilots will turn their gaze from outside to inside and use the artificial horizon. The artificial horizon is normally a simply globe split into two hemispheres.
Bottom Line. A fear of flying is way more common than you may think, so if you're one of those people who feel their mouth start to go dry and hands get sweaty as the takeoff run begins, you're not alone. The feeling of not being in control is enough to make even professional pilots feel a little uneasy during a flight ...
The most common reason is that there are no airstrips or airports on many of the small islands, so if a plane had to make an emergency landing, it would be difficult to find a place to land. Additionally, the Pacific Ocean is vast and remote, so if a plane were to go down, it would be very difficult to find.
Theoretically it is possible but even a supersonic jet would be hindered by factors such as speed restrictions and in-flight refuelling. Yes – but only in theory. The Earth is roughly 40,000km in circumference at the equator, and completes one rotation every 24 hours.
Aviation regulators set the total hours pilots fly and how much sleep they must get between flights. During ultra-long-haul flights, pilots sleep in special cabins, which passengers can't access.