Result of lightning striking plane?

Question

I was just wondering if anything would happen or if it would just pass over the body of the plane.

Answer 1

It does not do anything to the plane, it can hit is but will not damage a modern plane.

Lightning has struck my aircraft twice landing in Singapore and landing in London. Its just a little bit scary because of the major turbulance.

Answer 2

I am myself a light aircraft pilot and my father was a military pilot. I've never been flying in a thunderstorm as it is very dangerous for light aircraft but my father, as a military, has many times.

The chances to be hit by lightning in an aircraft are minimal but it can and has happened, if it is exactly in the path of the bolt.

Because, like a car, most aircraft have a metallic body, it works as a Faraday cage and electricity is never entering the aircraft. But my father has reported a tiny hole in one of his wings due to the lightning. The main problem with lightning and craft like aircraft and sea-going vessels is that they have many electronic equipments and things like magnetic compasses may be badly affected by the high magnetic field of the lightning bolt. Otherwise, there is very little danger in the lightning bolt itself: the main danger for an aircraft in a thunderstorm is the so-called shear wind effect and even worse: the micro-burst effect that can be fatal if the aircraft is near the ground as it is in a take-off or landing phase.

Micro-burst are strong downward winds that can force an aircraft to the ground. Shear winds are any sharp change in the wind direction that you always encounter in a thunderstorm.

Shear winds can't be seen with the weather radar and are mostly reported from pilots flying the same route, in front of you. But when approaching an airport, pilots often ommit to report them because they don't want to be the one to tell another pilot that he should abort his approach and land somewhere else. Like anywhere else, it is money and the cost of such an avoidance that rules the profession.

Answer 3

Nothing will happen. The electricity from the lightening will just go through the body of the plane. the only bad thing that could happen is it could mess up the electrical equipment. But there have been very few crashes form lightening strike.