Implications of a recent lightning strike to a NASA jet trainerOn February 24, 1987, a NASA T-38A airplane experienced a lightning strike while approaching the Los Alamitos Army Aviation Facility in California. The airplane was landed safely at Los Alamitos with no injury to the crew members. However, the airplane suffered extensive fire damage in the center fuselage section. The NASA investigation board concluded that the airplane was struck by lightning, which resulted in an inflight explosion with subsequent fire. This paper describes the most probable cause of the incident, and the implications of this mishap to aircraft lightning protection and to the avoidance of those conditions conducive to lightning strikes to aircraft.
Document ID
19880035064
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Fisher, Bruce D. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Taeuber, Ralph J. (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Crouch, Keith E. (Lightning Technologies, Inc. Pittsfield, MA, United States)