What this profile covers
Aircraft exposure to lightning and the resulting inspection, system, structure, communication, sensor, and dispatch considerations.
Why it matters
Weather changes aircraft performance and sensor cues while also increasing uncertainty, workload, route constraints, and exposure to secondary hazards. For lightning strike, useful analysis connects the immediate event with exposure, defenses, recurrence, and the wider operating system rather than treating one observation as a final conclusion.
Atmospheric, visibility, contamination, environmental, and natural-hazard effects on flight operations.
Understand the subject before interpreting a signal.
In plain language, this profile examines aircraft exposure to lightning and the resulting inspection, system, structure, communication, sensor, and dispatch considerations.
Build a multi-source picture
- Official observations, forecasts, radar, and warnings
- Airport, runway, and terrain information
- Aircraft response and warning data
- Crew, ATC, and other operational reports
Timing, relationships, and recurrence
Relevant recorded context may include normal acceleration, radio altitude, vertical speed, calibrated airspeed, pitch attitude. Use validated mappings and examine signal relationships over the applicable flight phase.
Do not turn an observation into a conclusion
Aircraft response can indicate exposure but may not locate or characterize the atmospheric phenomenon without time-aligned meteorological evidence.
Keep controlling material visible
Apply the current approved manuals, procedures, authority requirements, investigation evidence, and validated organizational definitions for any operational decision.
Normal acceleration
Acceleration measured broadly along the aircraft's vertical body axis; its touchdown peak can help characterize a landing load when interpreted with other signals.
Open parameter guide ↗ftRadio altitude
Height derived from radio altimetry, normally representing the distance from the aircraft to terrain directly below within the system's operating range.
Open parameter guide ↗ft/min or m/sVertical speed
The aircraft's vertical rate. Different recorded sources and smoothing can produce materially different values, especially during flare and touchdown.
Open parameter guide ↗ktCalibrated airspeed
Indicated airspeed corrected for instrument and position error, as provided by the aircraft data system.
Open parameter guide ↗degPitch attitude
Aircraft body attitude above or below the local horizontal reference.
Open parameter guide ↗degRoll angle
Aircraft bank attitude about the longitudinal axis.
Open parameter guide ↗% / ratio / aircraft-specificEngine thrust
One or more recorded measures of commanded or produced propulsion; the correct signal depends on engine and aircraft type.
Open parameter guide ↗discreteLanding gear status
Command, position, lock, and ground-sensing states associated with the landing gear; these are separate signals with different meanings.
Open parameter guide ↗From a broad topic to a defensible safety review.
Define
State what lightning strike means for the aircraft, operation, authority, and organization in scope.
Verify
Confirm the provenance, quality, timing, units, completeness, and limitations of every data source used.
Describe
Reconstruct what happened and quantify relevant exposure before discussing causes or corrective action.
Corroborate
Compare flight data with reports, operational context, technical evidence, and authoritative source material.
Test barriers
Identify which preventive, recovery, and consequence-mitigation controls should have worked and how their performance can be measured.
Assure
Assign proportionate action and verify whether the control and safety performance improve without harmful unintended effects.
Questions before conclusions
- Q1
How is lightning strike defined for the aircraft, operation, authority, and organization being reviewed?
- Q2
Which precursors, recorded signals, reports, and external data would confirm the event and describe its context?
- Q3
Which preventive, recovery, and consequence-reduction barriers should work, and where could they weaken?
- Q4
What does recurrence, exposure, severity potential, or change over time show before choosing a safety action?
4 connected event profiles
These are terminology and family connections for exploration—not claims that FDM alone can determine the topic.
Excessive bank at low height
Bank angle exceeds an aircraft- and height-specific monitoring band close to the runway or terrain.
Open FDM profile ↗FDM-070 · Approach alerts & clearanceApproach to an unexpected runway or surface
Aircraft track and final approach geometry align with a runway or surface different from the validated flight-plan context.
Open FDM profile ↗FDM-072 · Landing contactBounced landing
Recorded air/ground transitions and vertical motion indicate the aircraft became airborne again after initial touchdown.
Open FDM profile ↗FDM-103 · Weather & environmentConvective-weather deviation
Recorded track departs from the planned or cleared route in proximity to convective weather identified by external data.
Open FDM profile ↗Go deeper into the closest ASIP research guides.
Landing Performance
Connect approved landing-distance data with current wind, runway condition, aircraft state, touchdown point, and deceleration technique.
Open intelligence brief ↗WeatherCrosswind Operations
Manage alignment, drift, bank, gust response, touchdown sequence, and directional control using aircraft- and operator-specific techniques.
Open intelligence brief ↗WeatherWindshear and Microburst
Recognize rapid changes in wind vector and the resulting airspeed, path, thrust, and vertical-energy effects close to the ground.
Open intelligence brief ↗Flight OperationsControlled Flight Into Terrain
Understand how a controllable aircraft can be flown into terrain or an obstacle through path, altitude, navigation, monitoring, or situational-awareness breakdowns.
Open intelligence brief ↗12 useful starting points
Original ASIP summaries lead to publisher pages. ASIP does not copy or host the reports.
Lightning Strikes
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for weather. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 24001 — Boeing 737-900ER Mid-Cabin Door Plug Inspection
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for maintenance and cabin and cargo. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 21003 — SAFO 21003, Inspection of Lavatory Fire Extinguishing Bottles on Aircraft Parked or Stored for a Prolonged Period of Time in a High-Temperature Environment
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for fire and smoke and maintenance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-011 — Thunderstorm Encounters
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceHigh Load Event Reporting
The Airbus Safety First article explains why a pilot report remains central after a suspected high-load event and how recorded reports and analysis tools can support the applicable maintenance process.
Open official sourceAnnex 19 — Safety Management, Third Edition
Annex 19 consolidates ICAO safety-management provisions, including State safety responsibilities, SMS, safety-data collection and processing, and the protection and sharing of safety information.
Open official sourceAnnual Safety Review 2025
EASA's review uses occurrence and accident information to describe performance across aviation domains and to support the European safety-risk-management process.
Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
Boeing's 56th annual statistical summary organizes commercial-jet accident data using stated definitions and the CAST/ICAO occurrence taxonomy.
Open official sourceIATA Annual Safety Report — 2024
IATA's 61st annual report provides an interactive, method-defined view of commercial aviation accident performance and contributing-factor classifications.
Open official sourceAC 120-92D — Safety Management Systems for Aviation Service Providers
FAA guidance explains performance-based, scalable approaches to integrating safety policy, risk management, assurance, and promotion into aviation organizations.
Open official sourceAC 91-79B — Aircraft Landing Performance and Runway Excursion Mitigation
This FAA circular brings together landing-performance planning, time-of-arrival assessment, RCAM information, and operational practices for reducing runway-excursion risk.
Open official sourceSafety Alert SA-077 — Stabilized Approaches Lead to Safe Landings
The NTSB alert highlights the need to establish and maintain a stabilized approach and to go around when an approach falls outside applicable criteria.
Open official sourceCommon Taxonomy Team
International work on common aviation occurrence categories and definitions for consistent reporting and analysis.
Open referenceSafety Risk Management
European safety-risk process connecting data, safety issues, risk portfolios, priorities, and safety action.
Open referenceAnnual programmes and reports
Annual safety reviews and risk portfolios used to identify key risk areas, safety issues, and emerging issues.
Open referenceEuropean Plan for Aviation Safety 2025
A broad evidence-based portfolio showing the scale and connected nature of current aviation safety issues.
Open referenceOperational issues index
A practical discovery index for operational safety subjects; official authority and manufacturer sources remain controlling where applicable.
Open reference