Managing Lightning

Lightning always gets your attention. It should. On average, 51 people die in the U.S. each year from lightning strikes, making it the second-most common cause of storm-related deaths in the country, behind only floods. Hundreds more people are struck by lightning each year in the U.S., resulting in significant injury. Lightning strikes, however, mostly affect people on the ground and generally cause little to no injury to pilots in the air despite NOAA estimates that there are about 25 million lightning strikes in the U.S. each year.

Key Takeaways:

• Modern aircraft are frequently struck by lightning, but designs like conductive skins and Faraday cages effectively protect occupants and generally prevent catastrophic damage, though minor issues to avionics or the airframe can occur.
• Lightning, a powerful natural electrical discharge from thunderclouds, serves as a critical indicator of severe weather conditions, including hail, damaging winds, and strong turbulence.
• Pilots are strongly advised to treat lightning as a serious warning, prioritizing safety by actively avoiding weather systems that produce it, maintaining significant distances, or diverting flights.

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