Jul 1 2008When Airplanes Get Hit By Lightning

F1RST THIS RULEZ

SECOND... damn, not nearly as cool.

I realize it doesnt fry the people but the electrical equipment is not harmed?

THIRD

DOH

FIFTH...

wait, no. Damn.

FIFTH!

Ha! In your face, Mememe!

P.S. You're funny. :)

FIFTH (I don't get it, but I'll copy everyone else to look cool).

And if I was the one to have taken that video, I would have just filmed the empty sky afterwards, and then edit it together to make it look like the plane gets struck by lightning, and then just disappears.!.!.!...

But this is still good.

true, clinch. true.

Old.
So old.

Point in fact, the lighting bolt you see is the lightning making it's way back UP, not down to the ground. So, in reality, it's going back up. Similar to what happened to Apollo 12, which was struck twice on launch.

Scientists should really start trying to be original and come up with their own terminology.

I mean "Faraday cage"? Please.

The writers from LOST should be demanding royalties.

Umm... #10...

Well let's just say I hope he's kidding. Sad day to be a teacher.

@10, the problem lies in the fact that people are generally stupid. So, in order to keep them entertained or catch their attention, it is often necessary to use terminology they can relate to.

Now, on to our next lesson entitled: Serving Our Robot Overlords

We are all aware that lightening comes from the ground and not from the sky, correct?

Of course we're all aware of that...because if we're not, then I might have to cry.

We are all aware that lightening comes from the ground and not from the sky, correct?

Sorry Smokinggirl, I have no clue, anyone care to explain?

Well, that's not exactly correct. First you have negatively charged particles in the clouds and positively charged particles on the ground. The cloud sends out a kind of tendril (that you can't see) seeking the positive charge. Some positively charged objects may send up a "leader" (which you usually also can't see) seeing the negative charge. When these two things connect, the lightning strikes. (This all happens very quickly, obviously.) First, the line lights up from where the two of the met, down to the ground. Then the lightning bolt lights up from the next join up, down to the ground. Then the bolt lights up from the next joint up, down to the ground. So basically the bolt is being traced over and over again, lighting up the bottom bits first, and then moving higher. The bolt flickers because the ions in the clouds are moving, so when the bolt is no longer in a pocket of ions in the cloud, the bolt flickers out, then it hits another pocket of ions and the bolt lights back up. Lightning ALWAYS strikes the same place twice, often many times in a row, that's what the flickering is. Click my name for a photo of a leader - it's very rare to get one on film! In this case two leaders were coming off the same tree, and one connected to the bolt.

Oh, and if you are ever in a storm and feel a prickling on the back of your neck? That would be a leader coming off your head. Put your feet together so they are touching, and tuck yourself into a ball. You want your feet touching the ground only, the less you have touching the ground the better (as lightning will seek the best thing to get it into the ground). You only have a fraction of a second, so act fast. (Disclaimer: I'm not a weather-ologist, but I've lived in FL all my life, and lightning has struck or passed within 20 yards of me dozens of times. I've done quite a bit of research on the subject and I'm still trying to reconcile all the theories of what exactly makes the sound of thunder, since there are so many ideas on the subject.)

"I'm not a weather-ologist, but I've lived in FL all my life"

I'm not a douchebag, but I did stay at a Holiday In Express last night.

Momboelitist, that was hands down the funniest comment ive ever seen posted on this website.

Those damn weather-ologists foiled my plans! What plans, you ask? Simple...MY plans.

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/lightning/ltg_basics.html

I'm sorry, triggered lightning is ground-to-cloud, while natural lightning is cloud-to-ground...and I assume that this article was written by weather-ologists, aka, meterologists.

@#17 hahahahahah nice.

man walks into a hotel, the guy behind the counter says Do you have reservations? The man replies, why yes I do but I think I'll stay here anyway.

*sigh*

@19 - Don't forget to take what any one person/site/group says as the ultimate fact (not me, not NASA, not anybody): "Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had." -Michael Crichton ;) [Though there was nothing on the NASA page that contradicts what I said, I just gave it in simplified terms. Sorry if it was too far below your radar, I try to speak in such a way that everyone can understand, not just people who are already educated on the subject. However there are still several theories out there and we rarely ever know anything as the end-all, be-all fact.]

Yea, it fries most of the electrical shit in the jet. A pain in the ass to fix I might add

holy moses #17 that was hysterical

gay, homosectual it is a lightning strike from the sky to the groung O.K

what do you call a retarded policeman you

HaHaHaHaHHaHaHa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I was Flying as an FA I always wanted t get a photo of St Elmo's Fire. My other shot as also a professional photographer was lightning from a plane. Planes do well getting hit my lightning and have seen a few that have. You can look on the shell for the holes where the lightning comes out. Great Post.

I just shared this on my Lightning Photo stream, whensome one asked What happens when planes get hit by lightning. Your post is linked by source here is the page. The Image is a large bolt of lightning over the city Lights with a contrail from a Jet liner. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelightningman/4030403154/?addedcomment=1#comment72157622512344289