When Lightning Strikes Your Regional Jet
Posted by Jeffrey on 4th March 2009
Right Nose Wheel Gear Door
Well, it happened yesterday. We were struck by lightning during the last ten minutes of our flight while descending into SFO.
We could hardly avoid it. We weren’t painting anything on our radar but ATC saw that we were headed towards an area of heavy precipitation so he vectored us away from it. But, by then, it was too late. A few seconds after we made the turn…BAM!…lightning struck. Didn’t see it as much as we heard it!
It was super loud but the airplane didn’t even budge. All our electronics stayed online, including our radios, and we continued to the airport in a torrential downpour and a huge headwind. It was an exciting couple minutes.
Side note: It always amazes me…the whole flight can be boring…but the last ten minutes can be very exciting. I wrote another article, Two Hours of Sitting, 20 Minutes of Work, that talks about the last couple minutes of a flight and how they can be the most interesting. Check it out!
Tags: CRJ, CRJ 700, Lightning Strike, Weather
Posted in Airplanes, Aviation, Captain Insights, CRJ200, Flying the Line, Regional Airlines | 1 Comment »
