Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Lightning caused C-130 plane crash? By Ben O. Tesiorna
THERE are talks going around among fishermen in Davao City that a lightning struck the C-130 Hercules Lockheed plane of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) before it plunged to the Davao Gulf, Monday evening.
With the latest technology available, many doubted if it is still possible for a lightning strike to bring down such a huge and sturdy plane like the C-130.
In a research made by Sun.Star Davao, several incidents were found posted at the Internet that blamed lighting strike for the crash.
On December 8, 1963 at Elkton, Maryland, a Boeing B-707-121 owned by Pan American World Airways was struck by lightning resulting in an explosion and destruction of the aircraft.
Investigation showed that the cause was lightning induced ignition of fuel tank vapors. All 81 people onboard perished.
Within two weeks after the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered lightning discharge wicks to be installed on all commercial jet airliners.
A plane in Russia also plummeted down on August 2006 after it was struck by lightning. All of the 170 holidaymakers perished in the Ukraine crash.
How can these be prevented?
The lightning discharge protection rod relates to a system for protecting an in-air vehicle from damage due to the craft sustaining a lightning strike.
It is an extremely simple device consisting of a sacrificial graphite composite rod 40, approximately the diameter of a pencil with a length of about five inches.
The sacrificial rod 40 is constructed with the graphite fibers running axially within the rod in a manner that best provides a path of conduction axially from the trailing edge of an aircraft to the trailing end of the rod.
The trailing end of rod 40 may be tapered for aerodynamic and esthetic requirements. This rod is sacrificial but has the capability to sustain several lightning strikes and still provide protection.
The question now is, does the ill-fated C-130 plane have lightning discharge rod?
It's too early to tell. Authorities are still retrieving the plane as of this writing Tuesday.
Of the nine passengers of the said plane, only one body was recovered so far along with some personal belongings and body parts.
