How common is it for commercial planes to be struck by lightning? Here’s what experts say.
SEATTLE — Social media posts are circulating online, showing a lightning bolt zap an airplane Monday night as it flew over Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.
Delta Air Lines said it is aware of the reports and said the plane landed safely.
How common does lightning strike commercial planes? Here’s what experts say.
“What you’re asking, should they be afraid to get on the next airline? Absolutely not,” said Scott Hamilton, an aviation industry consultant.
According to aviation experts, lightning strikes each commercial plane flying once or twice a year on average.
One of the last confirmed commercial airline flights that crashed in the U.S. due to lightning was in 1963; 81 people died on a Pan Am flight heading from Baltimore to Philadelphia.
But since then, the government has instituted stricter regulations for commercial aircraft concerning lightning strikes. The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial planes to be able to withstand lightning and continue a safe flight and landing.
It’s a topic KING 5 explored during an aviation safety program in 2010.
“The service is built to be conductive and when the airplane is struck by lightning the charge is dissipated across that surface. The charge, the current that goes through the wing stays in the wing. It forms what we call a faraday cage, so it protects the inner part of the enclosure, but at the same time there’s a small amount that goes through,” said one expert.
On top of that, airlines are required to provide maintenance inspections after any lightning incident. Experts said with these regulations, the odds of a plane crashing due to lightning are miniscule.
“The odds are probably a billion to one,” said Hamilton. “If [passengers are] on the airplane when the lightning strikes, unless the pilot tells you something different, I wouldn’t particularly worry about it.”
Officials with Delta said the plane that may have been hit was arriving from Las Vegas and said the aircraft landed uneventfully and taxied to the gate, where it’s being inspected and evaluated by maintenance crews.