On December 20th, American Airlines had to return its Airbus A321 to Charlotte after lightning struck during takeoff. The plane, registered N996AN, is a young Airbus A321-200, delivered to American in December 2016.
The aircraft, initially set to fly to Seattle, left gate B9 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport at 16:58 local time. Severe thunderstorms likely caused the 40-minute delay. Shortly after, Flight AA506 took off from runway 36C at 17:21 local time. As the aircraft climbed, lightning struck its nose at 29,000 feet.
Consequently, the pilots halted the climb and made the decision to return to Charlotte. They did not declare an emergency. Instead, air traffic control vectored them back. After 52 minutes, the aircraft landed safely at 18:13 local time. The plane used the same runway for the smooth landing and taxied to gate A12.
On the ground, American Airlines’ maintenance crew inspected the plane and discovered damage to the nose. Specifically, the radar, essential for navigating thunderstorms, was compromised. As a result, the airline grounded the A321 and arranged a replacement aircraft for the flight to Seattle. They rescheduled the flight for the morning of December 21st.
After an 11-hour delay, flight 506 departed Charlotte at 06:24 local time the next day. The replacement A321 flew the 5-hour, 17-minute journey to Seattle without incident. The aircraft, registered N581UW, had been in service since June 2014 and wore a retro livery.
In fact, statistics show that lightning strikes aircraft regularly, but most do not cause harm. This is because aircraft are designed with a “Faraday Cage” effect, which prevents lightning from damaging electronics. However, lightning can cause significant damage in rare cases, as seen in the tragic crash of Pan Am Flight 214 in 1963. After two days, N996AN returned to service and resumed flying.
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