Question of the Day -- Is it safe to be in an airplane that being struck by lightning?

In my Elektrotechnik (Electrical Engineering) class, we were learning about electrical field. This topic is not new for me since I’ve learned it during my Australian Matriculation. But my lecturer mentioned a new term, which is “FARADAY’sche Käfig”, which in English is called Faraday Cage. I’ve never really heard of this term before, not in German and not in English.

So I searched about it.

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What is Faraday Cage?

I’m sure that all of us know that too much of electricity can be dangerous. It can electrocute people. It can also kill our electronic devices and machines.

So Michael Faraday, a scientist in the 19th-century, came out with a brilliant idea to control electricity so that it causes less harm to us. He then named it, Faraday Cage.

Faraday Cage often looks like a cage/container and made out of wire mesh or metal plates.You can even build your own Faraday Cage.

How Faraday Cage works?

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Faraday Cage acts as a shield, that protect its contents from static electric fields (a force field surrounding a charged particle, such as electron and proton).

So what Faraday Cage does is, taking the electrostatic charges and distribute them around the exterior of the cage. As it distributes the charge around the outside part of the cage, it cancels out electrical charges inside the cage. So the charge only remains on the external surface of the cage.

“the best place to hide when there’s lightning is your car”

Well, this is because a car acts like a Faraday Cage when the lightning strikes.

So what about a plane? Is It safe to be in a plane when the lightning strikes?

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Well, the answer is yes, since an airplane can also acts as a Faraday Cage.

Planes are actually hit by lightning far more frequently than you might think.

So how can it be save when there’s 30-million Volt strikes the plane?

Most airplanes are built out of metal, mostly alloy. This enables the plane to act as a shield to the passengers inside the plane.

When the lightning strikes, it hits an edge (entry point), such as the wing tip or the nose. The electrons of the lightning strike will then flow onto the metal surface. Since electrons have the same negative charge, they tend to push themselves away from each other. And since the outer surface is bigger than the inner surface, the electrons flow on the outer part of the air frame structure, since it provides more space for the electrons to push each other. The electrons will then leave from another point (exit point), for example the tail.

After being struck by the lightning, the airplane technician would search the surface of the airplane for the entry and exit point. This is because the lightning strike can create holes on the airplane. But this occurs only once in a while. A lightning strike usually doesn’t causes any damage to the airplane.

Most of the time, we don’t even notice it when the lightning strikes the airplane. we might hear noise, and see a flash of light through the window, but usually we don’t feel anything.
Now that you know this, the next time you are flying, try to look out the window and catch one 😉

If lightning isn’t dangerous, why do we still hear fatal airplane crashes involving lightning?

We have heard about airplane crashes that caused by lightning strikes.

For example,
In 2010, a Boeing 737-700 from Bogota was struck by lightning and crashed at San Andres Island in the Caribbean, resulting in 2 deaths. The cause, however, was not the lightning alone. It could also due to a sharp change in wind direction, or an air pocket linked to lightning when a plane is near the ground.

However, this incident is very uncommon thanks to modern safety measures. So don’t worry about it and plan your travels.😉

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Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I hope you like it and if you do, do give a thumbs up!!
With Love,
Vael Riey

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colemanchin (43) · 7 years ago

Hi @vaelriey,
Awesome post. I knew planes were ok with lightning but didn't know why and now I know! Thanks to you! Signing out with a follow.

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vaelriey (63) · 7 years ago

Aaaw thank you! 😃

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awesomianist (64) · 7 years ago

I remember Faraday Cages being thought about in Final year Secondary School Physics class. but never the application of it.

Thanks for doing the research and sharing to us! I look forward to more informative posts from you!! Future Aerospace Enginner eh!!

I must have been sleeping in my Physic class then 😂

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