Commercial transport passenger airplanes are hit by lightning an average of once or twice a year, but because the aircraft are required to be resistant to lightning strikes, flight operations typically are not critically affected. However, flights are often diverted and land for required post-strike inspections, which take hours and can cause flight delays and additional costs.
Smaller aircraft, face the risk of serious, or even catastrophic, damage. For example, a Sikorsky S-76C carrying 12 passengers and two pilots was struck by lightning over British Columbia’s Southern Gulf Islands on Oct. 24, 2023. News reports said the pilots’ instruments went blank for a few seconds before coming back on. The helicopter, which had been flying at 4,000 ft, dropped to 1,300 ft before the pilots regained cont…
