Lightning Strikes and Composite Airframes Page 1 of 2

By William Greco
July 2009
2404 Greensward N.
Warrington, Pa.

Executive Summary
Lightning is not a problem for aircraft with aluminum airframes, however today’s
modern aircraft that are now coming off the assembly lines are making extensive use of
composite material to significantly reduce weight and, hence, fuel consumption. Unlike
aluminum composite material does not conduct and dissipate electricity. Airframes of
electrically insulated carbon fiber/ epoxy composites can be damaged, particularly at the
entry and exit points of a lightning strike, because they absorb the lightning strike instead
of conducting and dissipating it.

Lightning and Airplanes

A Lightning strike on an aircraft generally does not damage the plane, burn marks
however do appear. The electrical energy makes it way through the metal skin of the
aircraft. Sometimes the electrical surge will damage aircraft electronics. Usually aircraft
do not receive large amounts of damage that will cause a problem’s with flying the plane.
An aluminum skinned aircraft can usually dissipate the lightning energy.
The outer skin of airplanes used to be aluminum, which conducts electricity; the lightning flows
through the aluminum skin from the point of impact to some other point without interruption or
diversion to the interior of the aircraft.
The first contact with lightning is at a terminal point such as the tail, nose or wingtip.
As the aircraft passes through the areas of opposite charges, the lightning moves through
the aluminum aircraft skin and exits through another point, frequently an extremity.
Lightning can cause problems with sensitive electronic equipment on the plane. Surge
suppressors protect electrical equipment.
Most aircraft avoid lightning storms.

Clouds attract electrons from the ground. These electrons will gather on anything that
gathers charge. That electric charge will start to work it's way through the air, ionizing it,
until the leader working it's way down, and the leader trying to get up finally meet. When
they do - there's lightning. An aircraft flying between the highly charged portions of a
cloud will act as a conduit for step leaders, being able to produce one in each direction.
Aircraft dissipate lightning through the use of “Static Wicks",
“Null Field Trailing Dischagers” and “Micro Point Trailing Dischargers”. These are
pieces of metal connected the frame of the aircraft, with one or multiple spikes on the
end. They are contained in fiberglass rods. The spikes concentrate any electric charge
around them, they are connected to the airframe, they allow the airplane to scatter and
disperse static electricity. If lightning strikes the aircraft, electricity will go through the
dischargers and not through the airplane.
 Lightning Strikes and Composite Airframes Page 2 of 2
By William Greco
July 2009
2404 Greensward N.
Warrington, Pa.

The energy during a lightning strike contains 10,000-200,000 amperes, occurring in a

fraction of a second. Without a conductive path, the electrically insulated carbon fiber/
epoxy composites absorb the entire strike and are severely damaged, at the entry point of
the strike. Extra instrumentation shielding required for composite aircraft.
What is Happening Today
Lightning detection technologies do not exist today for composite airframe aircraft
today.
What is needed:
Computer Formulated Simulations of lightning events should be calculated during
laboratory tests to provide baseline data prior to actual flight testing.

Onboard current sensors in test aircraft should be used to measure the intensity and
location of the lightning current during a strike on carbon fiber/ epoxy composite
airframes.

Energy level information from such tests should be arranged, as sets of data, so as to
demonstrate or emphasize their casual, reciprocal, complementary, or parallel
relationships against statistical data sets to estimate amounts of damage that can occur on
the composite airframes.

Safety risks associated with carbon fiber/ epoxy composite airframes should be
evaluated.

Conclusion
Aircraft fuselage and wing structures are complex. Information must be developed as
mathematical models of lightning strike events associated with carbon fiber/ epoxy
composite airframes.
This information will allow Aeronautical Engineering Personnel to design solutions for
lightning strike effects on composite airframes.
Air France Flight 447 may have been a victim of a lightning strike.