Airborne lightning strikes

[RockyMnt1]

I just had a friend who was struck by lightning as he was flying in IMC. There were no radar returns in the area of the strike. He heard a pop and saw a bright flash near the right prop. Slight damage to the trailing edge of 1 prop blade on the right and the other damage site was the left winglet. No noticable affect on any of the avionics. The pax didn't even notice the strike. He had to continue flight for another half hour to get out of the mountains and everything worked normally. The static wicks seem unchanged.

The right engine is being tested for magnetism which would indicate a surge of eletricity in that area. If there is a magnetic field detected, parts must be inspected/replaced due to possible arcing. The arcing could have affected the properties of the metal due to the intense heat of the arc.

Is there anything else he should check/be aware of as a result of this encounter?

Any interesting lightning encounter stories out there??

 

[Kingairrick]

I took a couple of hits back in the Flight Express days... He should also check the seat cushion for stains.

 

[RockyMnt1]

Lightning strike aircraft type

Be-60 Beech Duke

 

[BankAccount=0$]

Be-60 Beech Duke

Not too sound like all the Duke bashers out there in the world, but is it possible that the airplane actually sought out the lightning to intentionaly be hit. It would only make sense, the MX hanger is like Club Med for Dukes, they seem to find anything that will allow them to take a little vacation

 

[labbats]

I took a couple of hits back in the Flight Express days... He should also check the seat cushion for stains.

lol

Apparently the new format won't just let me respond with 3 letters, so I'll add another lol.

 

[STL717]

If the radar showed no returns in the area. Was he above the freezing level in the clouds with any precipitation? SNOW????

Could have been a static discharge!!

 

[RockyMnt1]

Lightning strike

No precip. In the clouds and above the freezing level. I am pretty sure it was lightning. The trailing edge of the prop blade on the right engine has some evidence of small amounts of melted/pitted metal. It appears to have melted and then rehardened in the shape of a "V" on the trailing edge. Prop is at the prop shop new getting inspected.

That would have to be one large staic discharge. I would have thought that the static wicks would have disbursed the static buildup.

Yep, I understand about the Duke mx reputation and to some extent it is true, but I am not sure that this counts!!!

 

[cvsfly]

We had our BE-200 hit a few years back. Sounded like the same scenario (I was not on the flight). More than 40 miles from any CBs. Cruising around 17,000' in the S.E. in July in and out of some thin clouds. Flash and pop heard - lightening or static discharge (from cloud to aircraft - and isn't that what lightening is anyway). Came through both props, power section of the engine and exited through the trailing edge of the flaps. They followed the Beech recommended lightening strike inspection. Props overhauled, break down of the power section, overhauled & demagnetized the governors, and reskinned the flaps. Came to $80,000 which the insurance covered. Month downtime.

 

[RockyMnt1]

Well Crap!

The max Gauss (sp?) reading allowed on the engines is 1 to avoid a teardown/inspection. The left engine was 4.8 and the right engine was 4.5 so BOTH engines need to be inspected.

The ONLY good part about this is that insurance will cover everything after the deductable.

Estimates are about a month of downtime, so add one more Duke to the mx shop "club med" crowd.

Ya'll be careful and avoid the lightning out there!!