L is for Lightning Strike

There was a reason why Cabbie would always say that outside of war, planes should never fly through thunderstorms. While larger commercial planes could technically withstand this type of storm, the shearing winds and violent turbulents were enough to tear the wings and tails off of smaller aircraft. Then there was the risk of a lightning strike, which unless the aircraft's electrical systems were specifically hardened, could cause nasty burns up and down their systems.

It was because of all the risks that thunderstorms could pose to aircraft, that Cabbie always insisted on being the last aircraft in the air while a squall approached. He had witnessed friends being taken down by the Mother Nature's fury, and the old plane was unwilling to see civilian aircraft suffer the same fate. Today, he had managed his task, every aircraft within his airspace was either safely on the ground or successfully diverted around the storm. Now, the only task left was to get his old frame safely on the ground. So, he turned his nose towards home and opened his mouth to let the tower know he was coming in, unfortunately, this was the moment his luck ran out…

The world around him exploded into a vortex of deafening light and blinding sound. A molten force of pure energy wrapped itself around his frame, causing every inch of his metal skin to tingle with an electrical charge. Then as quickly as the electricity wrapped itself around him, it was gone. Leaving him hanging in the air, too stunned to keep himself from being bounced along with the worst of the coming storm's turbulent.

"Patch, I just got hit by lightning and I am coming in hot." Cabbie snapped over park's emergency frequency the moment that his brain finally kicked back into gear. He heard nothing in reply, not even the slightest crackle on the airwaves. A prickle of panic started to bubble up as Cabbie switched frequencies to speak to the tower specifically. "Patch?"

The radio once again remained silent and Cabbie allowed himself to let out a string of swear words, in a host of different languages. Taking deep breaths, tried to ignore the smarting burn across his back and wing.

"Can anyone hear me?" Cabbie asked into the void and when he didn't get an answer. He took a deep breath. "I appear to be suffering from a radio failure. If anyone can hear me, I currently am not receiving transmissions, I was hit by lightning, and will be making an emergency landing at the Piston Peak Air Attack Base."

Then he squared his wings and lined himself up for an approach. The storm was nearly on top of him and if he didn't get on the ground now he would be force to divert to another airstrip…a proposition that was made all the more nerve-wracking by his inability to communicate with the outside world.

Coming in for final Cabbie kept his eyes scanning the tower and the ground. It was possible that his teammates would try some alternative methods of communication, such as a light gun, to talk with him, but the tarmac was dark and clear. In many ways it was a comforting sight. He knew this tarmac like the back of his tires, which was a very, very good thing because even though Cabbie wasn't exactly sure what type of damage the lightning strike had done, he could sense that the radio was the least of his problems.

Swallowing hard he forced himself settle his tanks and focus completely on the stretch of asphalt in front of him. Wheels down he landed with a thud far heavier than his normal approach would lead to, but that didn't matter. He was on the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut and let go of a long shaking breath that he hadn't realized that he had been holding.

It was at this moment that the sky decided to open up and pour out an endless sheet of water. The cold, pelting rain struck painfully across the burn mark on Cabbie's back causing his eyes to open in reflex and he bit back a whimper. He was greeted by the sight of several of his fellow air attack teammates sitting on the tarmac in the rain eyeing him from a cautious distance.

"Well, that landing could have gone better." Cabbie half groaned as he settled a little lower on his tires.

They were not particularly powerful words, but they were enough to break the spell that seem to keep the vehicles surrounding him rooted to the pavement. Maru was the first to make a move. He cycled the old plane, ignoring the rain and making a sucking sound through his teeth, clearly unhappy with damage that he was seeing.

"Avalanche, Blackout, I have to ground Cabbie before I can work on him. Can you to string one of the drag chains across the tarmac about four feet off the ground. I don't care how you keep it up, I just need you to make sure that both ends of the chain are touching the ground."

"WILCO." Avalanche's voice echoed across the tarmac even louder than sound crashes of thunder as he practically dragged Blackout towards one of the storage sheds.

"Pinecone, would you go talk with Patch? Let her know that Pulaski can stand down." At the mechanic's instruction that rake headed off to the tower, which allowed Maru to turn his attention to Dynamite. "Dynamite, go give the aircraft an update about the situation before Blade wears a hole in his hanger floor."

With a bob on her tires Dynamite headed off towards the hangers leaving the mechanic and one last smokejumper purposely sitting several meters away electrified plane.

"What about me?" Drip asked with full-on puppy dog eyes.

"You are going to go start a pot of coffee," Maru waved a tine in the direction of the main hanger, "because I suspect that once we get Cabbie deenergized, I am going to have a very, very long day."

Cabbie didn't bother hiding his groan this time as a particularly intense stream of rain swept across him and Maru at least was kind enough to acknowledge old plane's discomfort.

"As soon as your charge is neutralized, we will get you warm, dry, and on pain meds in the main hanger." Then slight look of annoyance twitched at the edges of Maru's lips. "That said, Cabbie, please say that this lightning strike has finally knocked some sense into you, because I am kind of getting tired of dealing with this type of injury every 2 to 3 years."

Cabbie didn't have to bother replying. Getting struck by lightning sucked slag, but both vehicles knew that Cabbie's thick metal skin and heavy build made him particularly resistant to the worst types of lightning strike injury. If any member of the air attack team was going to stay out to shepherd, the public to safety…Cabbie was going to be the one who would do it.

Term- Lightning Strike- Aircraft Lightning strikes are a lot more common than most would assume, in fact, commercial airplanes get hit by an average of one lightning strike per year. Due to the frequency of lightning hitting commercial aircraft they have been specifically designed to minimize the damage of the hit. The track record of lightning strikes in general aviation is more complicated. The small, general aviation aircraft have less metal and fly at lower altitudes which drastically decreases the probability of lightning hitting them, but these planes are far more likely to experience catastrophic damage if they are hit. Luckily, general aviation aircraft often have the ability to divert around a storm or simply weather the storm out on the ground. The final category of aircraft to bring up is helicopters. Helicopters and lightning are a very, very bad mix. From frying the electrical systems to causing parts of the rotors to explode, it is best to avoid being in the sky when thunderheads are billowing on the horizon.