Are B787 airframes more susceptible to lightning strikes than aluminum airframes? - Curt Lewis

Lightning struck BA aircraft takes off after a week

Flights suffering lightning strikes is not uncommon. 

It remained grounded since July 22 at the Chennai airport and was parked at the secondary runway

A British Airways aircraft on a scheduled flight from London to Chennai on July 22/23 suffered a lightning strike which led to the plane being grounded at Chennai airport. The incident is said to be the first of its kind at Chennai airport in recent times.

Flight BA35, operated with one of the airline's Boeing 787-8 (G-ZBJG), left London's Heathrow airport on July 22 a little after 2 p.m. local time. Sometime after take-off, the jet was struck by lightning. The crew decided to continue flying and the flight landed at Chennai at 4.17 a.m. against its scheduled arrival time of 3.30 a.m., covering the distance of 8,242 km in a little over nine hours, non-stop. Damage to the aircraft was discovered after engineering checks at Chennai. The return flight, BA36, scheduled at 5.30 a.m on July 23 was cancelled, which the airline attributed to "a technical issue."

As the plane was grounded for seven days and parked off at the airport's secondary runway, it led to speculation among aviation enthusiasts here that the damage was significant. The airframe of this futuristic, wide body twin engine aircraft, popularly called the Dreamliner, makes extensive use of carbon fibre composite materials.

Lightning strikes to flights are not uncommon and aviation data shows that a plane can be struck by lightning every 1,000 to 3,000 flight hours.

Though aircraft in general are extensively engineered to handle lighting strikes, a U.S.-based aviation expert said such an event can at times affect an aircraft's structural integrity and even damage its avionics and other electrically operated mechanisms. The extent and type of damage can differ depending on factors such as the energy level and duration of the lightning strike. Given the less conductive nature of composites when compared to an all metal aircraft, lightning protection systems are crucial. Crew awareness of a strike having occurred is equally important. Damage to a jetliner can vary as burn marks, holes, material damage and other structural issues, the expert added.

Minor damage

Confirming the incident to The Hindu, Victoria Madden, Duty press officer, British Airways, London, said, "The aircraft in question was affected by some minor damage after a lightning strike and we sent our own highly qualified engineers out to India to inspect it before it returns to service." Declining to comment on the technical details of the incident or the engineering plan, she said "the aircraft was returning to London to eventually return to service."

The aircraft left Chennai for London on July 29 as BA 9159, at 12.55 p.m. It was flown on July 30 as BA103 London-Calgary.