What happens when lightning hits an airplane?

When you are traveling on a plane and suddenly lightning hits the plane. What will happen to you? Does your plane will dance or get crashed straight into the ground. Let's find...

Lightning hitting an airplane

Lightning

To find out the actual reason let's understand what is lighting...

Thunderbolt

Lightning contains millions of volts of current that can reach up to 1 billion volts. When it falls then it is more heater than the surface of the sun. So how planes can easily escape from that deadliest strike.

How plane escapes from lightning?

The outer body of the plane is made up of aluminum which is a good conductor of current. So when lightning strikes on the plane, the high voltage current just passes through the outer body of the plane without entering the plane and finally get eliminated through the tail in the atmosphere.
In very rare cases planes may catch fire. The last accident by lightning was reported in 1967 when the fuel tanks of the plane were burst by lightning killing all people on board.
But now the planes are more advanced and safe and you happily travel through them. Airways are considered more safe route to travel. Chances of dying in a plane crash are 1 in one million.

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