Weather conditions in Panama

Recently, a passenger plane carrying 140 passengers in Panama was struck by lightning when it landed in a storm.

In the face of this unexpected situation, the two pilots remained calm and calm. With their superb driving skills, the plane successfully landed at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City. Fortunately, no one was injured and the fuselage was not damaged.

So, why was this plane hit by lightning while flying?

As we all know, airplanes fly in the stratosphere, where the airflow is stable and the weather is clear, which is very suitable for airplane flight. The plane was hit by lightning in the head, which happened when the plane landed.

It is reported that the plane was hit in the head when it was about 30,000 feet (9 144 meters) from the ground. At this time, the plane is not flying in the stratosphere, but in the troposphere. The convection phenomenon in troposphere is obvious, and the weather conditions are bad, which is not suitable for aircraft flight. In addition, in the stormy weather at that time, the clouds were full of charges, and the plane was a conductor, which easily attracted the charges in the clouds. So it is easy to be struck by lightning. The nose of the plane is sharper than other parts of the plane. What causes it? Tip discharge? According to the principle, the head of an airplane is more likely to attract lightning. So it is not difficult to understand why the plane was hit by the head, not other parts of the plane. Lightning strikes the head of the plane, then moves along the surface of the plane, and finally flows out from the tail of the plane.

So, why is the plane still safe after being struck by lightning?

You know, the temperature of lightning is 3? Five times, this high temperature is enough to destroy any plane. So, after being hit at such a high temperature, can the plane be safe and sound? This is due to our clever engineers. Today's planes are specially designed to resist lightning strikes. The surface of the plane is mainly aluminum. When an airplane is struck by lightning, aluminum will guide the lightning back to the atmosphere, thus protecting the precision instruments in the airplane from being damaged. For fuel tanks that are easy to ignite, protection will be strengthened at the beginning of aircraft manufacturing.