That lightning strike near Albuquerque back in '08 changed how I look at bonding straps

I was working a ramp job out at KABQ back in 2008 and a King Air got hit during a thunderstorm that came up way faster than anyone expected. The whole avionics bay smelled like ozone for two days afterward. We found a static wick that had literally melted into a little ball of plastic and carbon fiber. After that, I started checking every single bonding strap with an ohmmeter instead of just a visual once-over. Has anyone else run into weird damage from a close lightning strike that made you change your inspection routine?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabeth9004d ago

Could you ever really unsee something like that... it's not just airplanes either. I've noticed the same thing with all kinds of equipment, even car batteries and trailer lights. People just give them a quick tug and say "yeah, that's fine" but the real problem is always resistance hiding inside a corroded connection. It makes you wonder how many little fires or failures are actually just a bad ground waving hello.

spencerm464d ago

@elizabeth900 I dunno, feels like people get a little dramatic about electrical stuff. A bad ground is annoying but not every flickering light means the world's ending.