Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenRivet
...Boy do i ever know that first hand  once we lost every MFD and Display in the cockpit for a good 20 seconds in hard night IMC - it was an interesting experience
I'll point you to December 8th 1962, Pan Am Boeing 707 - a lightning strike ignited a holding fuel tank and caused the aircraft to explode mid air.
I'll also point out that severe enough turbulence can bring down an aircraft of any size. |
I hear ya man. Flying down to LA one time in the middle of the soup at about FL200 and a lightning strike knocked out all electronics. Reset the fuel flow meter to 0 for example, but of course had back up analog gauges for qty.
I've been hit while flying before, but it never really mattered. This time however, it did.
I think a bigger danger that usually comes with lightening is hail. That stuff will rip a plane to shreds in seconds.
-S