AT THE AIRPORT...Lightning Protection
Bad
weather is bad news for airplanes. One of the most unpredictable elements
of a storm is lightning. NASA's Langley Research Center played a leading
role in lightning investigations with its seven-year (1980-86) Storm
Hazards Research program.
The project used a research airplane that flew into storms hoping to be hit by lightning! They were successful. The plane was struck more than 800 times!
NASA found that lightning injects a large number of electrical currents into an airplane. These currents can cause problems in the plane's electronic systems, including incorrect instrument readings.
These and other findings led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to require that critical aircraft electronic systems be protected from the effects of lightning beginning in 1987.
Lightning Technologies, Inc. of Pittsfield, Mass., worked with NASA on the Storm Hazards Research Program. They are now selling lightning protection systems to aircraft manufacturers worldwide.