Do planes still depart when there are isolated thunder storms?
I’m reading the weather & it says there is going to be isolated thunder storms around my area the day I leave, so I was wondering if planes still set out when there are thunderstorms, because I am really paranoid that if a thunder bolt hits the plane it will go on fire.
Actually a lot depends on where those isolated thunderstorms are. In general isolated storms have little effect on airlines as they can easily fly around them. Problems can occur if a storm just happens to move into an airports takeoff or landing pattern. That can cause significant problems with delays.
As far as lightning striking a plane, normally nothing much happens, as the plane merely becomes part of the channel the charge flows through, just like a car on the surface. I have never heard of a plane catching on fire via a lightning strike, thus there is nothing to worry about there.
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Lightning strikes to aircraft have not recently been a major cause of aircraft accidents, though the potential of damage or upset to electronic systems that perform flight critical functions, to fuel systems, and to structures made of composite materials remains an important safety issue. Although commercial aircraft experience a direct lightning strike approximately once per year per aircraft, the damage is usually confined to burn marks on the aircraft skin and the trailing edges of wings or tail surfaces. The minimal damage experienced by most aircraft can be attributed to the widespread use of aluminum (an excellent electrical conductor) for the skins and primary structure, careful attention to ensure that electrical paths are not disrupted by gaps in the skin, and the use of mechanical and hydraulic flight control systems, which are relatively immune to the adverse effects of lightning. Initially, the lightning will attach to an aircraft extremity such as the nose or a wingtip. The aircraft then flies through the lightning flash, which reattaches itself to the fuselage at other locations while the airplane is in the electric “circuit” between the regions of opposite polarity. Most of the current will travel through the conductive exterior skin and structures of the aircraft and exit off some other extremity such as the tail. Lightning currents, therefore, do not usually enter critical systems within the aircraft, and personnel are protected from electrical shock hazards by the highly conductive aluminum skins and structures.
oea.larc.nasa.gov/PAIS/Concept2Reality/l…