A friend emailed this to me, along with this comment:
“The airplane was an ANA flight from Osaka, Japan to China. It happened at take-off, the plane returned to the airport, no injuries, no Boeing support was required. A person on the ground caught the lightning on the pictures.”
The caption on the web site reads, "“The fork like branches show the bi-directional leader initiation. The upward positive leader to the thundercloud and downward negative leader to the ground from the airplane seem to be initiated simultaneously.”
Thanks for posting. I have seen two other similar movies of lightning strikes with aircraft. I’m kind of curious in this situation if the 747 actually returned. Normally this aircraft must dump some of its fuel because it cannot land fully loaded. Of course it may have had less than full fuel on takeoff.
Lightning strikes to aircraft are pretty rare. Not usually the worry one might have when flying in/through a thunderstorm. Other factors like hail, wind shear and turbulence are the ones you should worry about. Although I can’t imagine being in one that takes a hit.
Reminds me of a business trip I was on in Spain in the 70s.
At the end of the visit, I took a cab to the airport. At the time there was an assasination attempt on Spain’s President, Dictator or whatever they’re called. The streets were lined with solders with automatic weapons , not on their shoulders but in their hands ready to fire. (I resisted “shooting” some movies with my camera) The airport was the same way. I was very uncomfortable!
When we took off, there was a loud explosion. I thought we were being shot at! (All the soldiers and guns fueled my imagination). We were later told that lighting had hit the plane. No damage other than my frayed nerves! [:)]
Here are a couple of pictures of a recent strike on a commercial Beechjet enroute from Houston to NYC with passengers on board. All the radios were knocked out and the pilot made a precautionary landing without incident.
Maybe strikes are at least a frequent as 3 Cirrus valve stems lining up!
Scott, in 1966 I was in a TWA Constellation en route to DC with stops in Dayton and Columbus (I wanted to ride a Connie one more time before they were retired from the TWA system). On the short leg between Dayton and Columbus we sustained a lightning strike to the left wing. The ride was terrible, everyone was puking and out of the black came this flash of light that you could see hitting the wing. The plane shuddered momentarily but I don’t know if that was from the strike or just the overall turbulence. We landed at CMH and after a through inspection departed again for DCA. It was a flight to remember. By the way I flew back to Chicago on a Lake Central DC3 stopping at Martinsburg, Clarksburg and Parkersburg WVA, Portsmouth and Cincinnati, OH, Indianapolis and Lafayette, IN then into ORD. What fun!!
By the way I flew back to Chicago on a Lake Central DC3 stopping at Martinsburg, Clarksburg and Parkersburg WVA, Portsmouth and Cincinnati, OH, Indianapolis and Lafayette, IN then into ORD. What fun!!
Jerry,
I remember flying on scheduled DC-3 service as a kid - but I have NO recollection of where the stops were. Outstanding that you’ve got this memorized (or logged). Great airplanes, great times. I have a recurring dream in which I’m showing my SR20 cockpit to the pilots of those planes!
… in 1966 I was in a TWA Constellation en route to DC with stops in Dayton and Columbus… …I flew back to Chicago on a Lake Central DC3 stopping at Martinsburg, Clarksburg and Parkersburg WVA, Portsmouth and Cincinnati, OH, Indianapolis and Lafayette, IN then into ORD.
In reply to:
I remember flying on scheduled DC-3…
Boy! You guys are old! Actually, I’m jealous. I would have loved to fly on a Connie.
In reply to:
I have a recurring dream in which I’m showing my SR20 cockpit to the pilots of those planes!
Wow! I have a dream about showing off my cockpit off, but it sure isn’t to some old wrinkled pilot! [;)]
