Airplanes and Weather

 

Airplanes and Weather


    When you look at all the hazards that come with weather in aviation, there is one that sticks out as top dog. Thunderstorms have probably the most significant impact on aviation and are possibly one of the pilots' scariest situations to encounter. The Flight Service Stations, Air Route Traffic Control Center, and Enroute Radar Services do a good job warning the pilot about a storm ahead of time. The pilots can also tune into services like the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS) to constantly repeat storm warnings (PHAK, 2016). These broadcasts are continuously updated to give the pilots the most current information (PHAK, 2016). When evaluating the accidents that happened with thunderstorms, aviators did not always recognize the dangers, and some evasive actions were not done, leading to accidents (E.A.I., n.d.). The reason thunderstorms are so dangerous to the aviation community is the unpredictability of situations that occur in them. According to the website Experimental Aircraft Info, upwards of 12 hazards are associated with thunderstorms (E.A.I., n.d.). However, a thunderstorm will not have all of these hazards at once, and it is impossible to visually tell which hazards it contains (PHAK, 2016). 

    For a thunderstorm to occur, it starts in a cumulus stage with an uplift of air, and if enough instability and moisture are there, the clouds continue to rise (PHAK, 2016). The strong updrafts prevent moisture from falling, and 15 minutes after the start of this, the cloud matures, becoming its most violent state (PHAK, 2016). At this point, the moisture is too heavy for the cloud and begins to fall in the form of rain or hail (PHAK, 2016). This downward falling precipitation cools the rising hot air, which causes violent turbulence (PHAK, 2016). You cannot fly over a thunderstorm, and flying under one can subject it to hail, rain, turbulence, and lightning (PHAK, 2016). 


   One of the most frightening hazards associated with thunderstorms is lightning. If lightning strikes an airplane while flying, it can damage communications and navigational equipment (PHAK, 2016). I have personally seen it put holes in aircraft. I believe I talked about it in a previous blog post when I was at Yokota AB, and the lightning hit the power cart, and it jumped to the aircraft. The lightning punctured the KC-135 on the forward left side of the aircraft and caused skin and electrical system damage. We spent about two weeks fixing all of the equipment and some of the fried avionics parts. This is why I believe Thunderstorm and their unpredictability is one of the most dangerous hazards for aircraft. 



E.A.I. (n.d.). The dangers Thunderstorms have on Aviation. Experimental Aircraft Info. Retrieved 

November 3, 2021, from https://www.experimentalaircraft.info/flight-planning/aviation-hazards- 
 
 4.php

 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2016). Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (PHAK).

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/media/pilot_handbook.pdf

KC-135 Stratotanker under Lightning Wallpaper 641. (n.d.). AERONEF.NET. Retrieved November 4, 

2021, from https://www.aeronef.net/2010/03/kc-135-stratotanker-under-lightning.html

Ellis, G. (2005, July 21). Nature Picture Library Altocumulus thunder head dumping rain on pan, 

Amboseli National Park, Kenya - Gerry Ellis. Nature Picture Library. Retrieved November 3,

 2021, from https://www.naturepl.com/stock-photo/altocumulus-thunder-head-dumping-rain-on- 

pan-amboseli-national-park-kenya/search/detail-0_00204881.html



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