Lightning Strike Data
Pilots and air traffic controllers should have access to more up-to-date information on lightning strikes, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says in a safety recommendation that calls on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to study the technical feasibility of accomplishing that goal.
The NTSB cited several recent accidents and incidents, noting that “total lightning” detection networks — those that detect both cloud-to-cloud lightning and cloud-to-ground lightning — can help predict areas where lightning may exist along planned flight paths.
“Because lightning detection networks operate independently of weather radar systems, their coverage areas complement each other and lightning information may indicate the presence of thunderstorms outside the range of ground-based weather radar systems,” the NTSB said. “Therefore, lightning information may be critical for thunderstorm identification in regions of th…
