Missing plane probably crashed in the Atlantic

[sharkbit]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

yup.. like this image sent to me by a Captain i used to fly with quite a lot looks harmless enough... put it right on a fuel tank or one of the electrical motors responsible for Aileron or Elevator deflection - say that it jams in a full travel position... then what? you just roll or pitch uncontrollably.





unless you use the struck fuel tank scenario... a lightning strike severe enough as the one above makes contact with fuel vapor in a half empty wing and... KABOOM... you have about enough time to think "WTF" before your finished.

This photo has been erroneously reported as a lightning strike. It was in fact a electrical fire on the ground after ground power was hooked up.

Lightning does cause damage though. Normally airplanes are designed to dissipate the energy. Most of time, there is usually a entry hole somewhere and a exit hole somewhere. These are usually small. You'll usually see the entry on the radome on the nose and the exit up on the tail at the rudder or elevator. Sometimes it wil blow off a static wick or a end cap on a flight control. If an engine or prop gets struck, it will sometimes magnetize the bearings which causes problems and you usually have to replace the engine and/or prop.
None of this is catastrophic though.

We had a Lear 35 get hit a few years ago. It hit the nose, bounced along the top of the fuselage, leaving burn holes in 3 places, and exited the elevator, blowing a static wick apart. No catastrophic damage though.

I think the biggest threat after a strike is the effect it has on the electronics. I'm not familiar with the Airbus, but I bet it is a pretty electronic intensive aircraft. Who knows how bad lightning could have affected it.

My bet is severe turbulence but I would think they can avoid that with the aircraft radar showing returns of severe thunderstorms ahead.
Probably a combination of things, like any other aviation accident.

Hopefully they can recover the flight recorders and figure out exactly what happened.