How to kill a Leprechaun

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According to here, the amateur photographer's name is Birg Möbius. The 44 year old wanted to photograph an airplane in front of a rainbow, and suddenly light flashed in the sky.

In the close-up (seen here) the outline of the aircraft ( A Boeing 777) is barely visible. The lightning struck the fuselage and exited out the tail wing.



What happens to a plane when it's struck by lightning?
Most of the time nothing, just like when lightning hits a car. It travels along the outer hull and leaves the plane at a different point (as you can see in the picture).

Sometimes you can find marks of burnt/stained metal at the entry and exit points and the electrical systems may suffer minor damage, but it's totally fine. IIRC, a single airplane gets hit by lightning around once or twice a year.
 
Does anybody know how the newer planes with composite construction handle lightening strikes? Do they mix conductive materials in with the composite material so the lightning stays on the outside of the aircraft?
 
I agree, very cool picture!
Want to know a source of "magic depletion" and disillusionment in our modern world?
Now-a-days when we see a cool picture we automatically think, "Oh, it's been Photoshopped or is an overlay of several pictures".

Very cool picture. Kira
 
I was in an airplane struck by lighting a few years ago. It was... um.... loud. Very.... very... loud. I feel for the ears of the poor saps in that plane!

Still, very nice picture.
 
One neat fact in the article I cited, since the plane is going so fast the Lightning strike actually travels along the plane, which makes it worst.
 
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