Should You Be Afraid of Flying During a Lightning Storm?
I was watching 20/20--the ABC television show last night and they did a story called, "Lightning Can Crash an Airplane: Myth or Truth?"
Do you know if it is safe to fly in an airplane during a thunderstorm with lightning?
It turns out that lightning has crashed many planes, but that happened during the 1940's to 1960's. Thanks to scientist at NASA who worked on a project to study lightning strikes on airplanes, NO commercial airline has crashed in the United States because of a lightning strike since 1963!
The NASA Storm Hazards project had scientists purposefully fly into nearly 1,500 thunderstorms and experience more than 700 lightning strikes so they could study the effects. Due to the project's discoveries, engineers that design airplanes were able to make improvements and develop new methods to diffuse the destructive force of lightning strikes.
Read more details at ABC News: Can Lightning Take Down an Airplane?
Read our other related lightning post, "Did You Know You Could Lose Your Computer from Lightning?"
That's a relief! Thanks for posting this, I won't be so nervous next time I fly during a thunderstorm.
Posted by: Mauigirl | December 15, 2007 at 03:02 PM
You're welcome, I am glad I could share something to ease your mind.
Posted by: HawaiiVacationGifts | December 24, 2007 at 05:31 AM