Lightning can strike twice. In the case of aircraft, it can strike multiple times. On planes built from highly conductive aluminum, even the worst-case 200,000-am-pere jolt can be quickly conducted away. But for craft made with less-conductive carbon fiber composites or nonconductive fiberglass, lightning strike protection (LSP) is critical. According to statistics published by the Royal Canadian Air Force, a plane can be struck by lightning on average every 1,000 to 3,000 flight hours. For commercial aircraft, that's equivalent to one strike per aircraft per year. Although The Boeing Co. (Chicago, Ill.) has reported that the probability of a worst-case strike could be as infrequent as once every 10 to 15 years, aircraft designs must be able to withstand such a strike. Boeing recently reported in its AERO magazine that an airplane flies farther than its own length in the time it takes a strike to begin and end.
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