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Nature and its awesome power
Bolt of lightning smashes into roof of Airbus A380
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Kayte Platts Thursday 12 May 2011 |
There are times when nature can display its truly awesome power. An example of which happened just recently on a stormy night in London.
As a flight came into Heathrow, a spectacular bolt of lightning smashed into the roof, right above the pilots' heads. The powerful jolt of electricity passed right through the body of the Airbus A380 before shooting out to continue its journey to the ground.
The Emirates Airbus 380 had been hit by lightning, however, amazingly, the Emirates service from Dubai landed safely minutes later. It did not even have a scratch and its 500 passengers and crew were completely unscathed.
It is not uncommon for planes get struck several times a year and they do act as a conductor. It would seem that as dramatic as it looks, it rarely has any impact at all, especially with the world's biggest commercial plane.
Manufacturers do and must make aircraft capable of withstanding a lightning strike and protecting those inside. The planes' body has to contain metal, so as it can then act as a conductor, thus allowing electricity to pass through it. If this was not present, it would mean the plane was likely to explode on impact of a lightning strike.
It would be interesting to know if any of the passengers aboard that flight did in fact notice this awesome force of nature?
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Fantastic video. Interesting that it was here in London. I did not think that we got weather as well defined as that. | |
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James Hendon 17 May 2011, 09:36PM | |
That is really fascinating. I remember from school about Faraday's cage and there being no danger if you were not connected to earth. Even so, pretty dramatic video and nice to know that it is safe to fly in these storms. | |
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Terry Butcher 19 May 2011, 02:03PM | |
Brilliant video. I knew about planes being hit and getting through ok but I have never seen it before. | |
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colin brown, st helens 9 December 2011, 09:24PM | |
wow.great vidio.... just returned from gambia to manchester t cook flight 5 dec.11 on our decent over wales ,we had lightning strike front,, i sat on wing,seen all electricity come off wing sky light up like fireball,,, very scary experience,, very loud bang, ,,, but i know were safe up there ha,, | |
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