How Lightning Strike Season Impacts Air Travel

If you are afraid of lightning, you may wonder about lightning dangers on airplanes and outdoors. It’s true that lightning is dangerous, and if you’re outdoors you should go indoors, but the truth about lightning strikes and airplanes may surprise you.

Why You Don’t Need To Worry About Lightning Striking Your Aircraft Mid-Flight

If you’ve ever been in an electrical storm during a commercial flight, you know that the light show can be amazing. Between each beautiful flash, though, you may have a moment of panic. What happens if your plane gets struck by lightning? In short, nothing. According to William Voss of the Flight Safety Foundation, modern aircraft are built with lightning strikes in mind, and each plane in service may be struck at least once per year with no damage. The real threats to aviation in severe weather come, not from lightning, but from unpredictable winds and hail.

When Lightning May Impact Air Travel

Although airline passengers, electronics systems and fuel tanks are protected in case of an electrical storm, a lightning strike detection and mapping system is still an important feature of air travel operations. Because of storm-related hazards, flight crews do try to give storms a wide berth. To make this happen, pilots and air traffic control staff need accurate storm location data. Taking a longer route to avoid severe weather may delay flights and cause some congestion at impacted airports. Also, if storm conditions exist at an airport, ground crews must take greater precautions than usual and passengers may not be able to deplane immediately on arrival unless there is an enclosed jetway available.

How To Keep Your Employees Informed in Bad Weather

Whether your crew works in an airport or not, early notification of incoming hazardous weather increases their chances of getting to safety on time. Contact Earth Networks to learn about weather prediction and monitoring tools, including a full-featured lightning alert app.