Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-11
Effects Of lightning
On Transport Planes
Told at Hearing
No Fatalities Resulted
From Strikes, Weather
Bureau Mon Says

| strikes on metal airplanes similar
| to the airliner which crashed near
Lovettsville, Va, August 81, result
ing in the deaths of Senator Lun-
| deem of Minnesota and "a other
| persons, were described to Civic
Aeronautics Board investigators to-
day by Louis P. Harrison of the
| Weather Bureau.
Eye witnesses described a heavy
lightning flash in the vicinity of the
airplane just prior to the crash and
some of them said they thought it
was responsible for the accident.
Meanwhile, Loudoun County Cor
oner John A. Gibson completed an
inquest at Leesburg without throw
ing any light on the cause of the
crash. A number of persons living
in the neighborhood where the plane
crashed testified at the hearing.
Mr.. Harrison. who since 1887 has
served as a member of a subcom-
mittee of the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics, study
ing the effects of lightning on air
craft, submitted to the investigators
records covering more than 100
known cases of lightning striking
airplaneS.
I'VE have studied the records of
more than 100 lightning strikes on
aircraft of metal construction, Mr..
Harrison said. In no case has a
fatal accident resulted from such a
strike"
Similar Case Cited.
A case involving a DC-3 airplane
of the type involved in the Lovetts-
vile accident occurred near Helena.
Mont, in 1898. In this case the
lightning struck the nose imme-
diately in front of the pilot and
left the plane by way of the left
aileron and wingtip. There was no
damage to radio or electrical equip
ment. A portion of the aileron
fabric was burned for distance
of 8 inches and metal beneath was
burned and fused. There was no
apparent damage to the nose of the
airplane and no injury to the pilot
The co-pilot reported that he felt a
slight shock where his hand touched
the chair
Robert ODonnelson, Civic Aero
nauticS Board airWays communica-
tons supervisor for the Washington
area, submitted to the investigators
logs of the teletype-radio stations,
radio range beacon stations. radio
range monitoring stations and traf-
fic control stations which had any
bearing on the Lovettsville accident.
He explained that the logs showed
all aids to air navigation on the
Washingt Pittsburgh route were
funCtioning normally at the time
of the accident and that all IA
cilitieS off the course which the
pilot might have used for checking
his position also were functioning
normally.
Most of the testimony yesterday
afternoon was devoted to radio
equipment of the big air liner,
methods of operation and the re-
suits of study of all of the Sc
separate items of radio equipment.
recovered from the scene of the
crash.
No Pre- Crash Fire Evidence.
Three witnesses, Herbert M
Hucke. former member of the Air
Safety Board and now manager Of
aviation radio for the Radio Corp
of America; R. G. Nichols, radio
inspector for the Civil Aeronautics
Board, and w. Howard Clark, Pitts
burgh. assistant superintendent of
maintenance, Pennsylvania Central
Air Lines, agreed unanimously that
inspection of the wreckage showed
no evidence of fire in the airplane
prior to the crash or that it had
been struck by lightning.
Mr.. Hucke described in detail the
exterior radio fittings and the three
antenna systems Of the big plane,
which might have been expected
to have been damaged by lightning
striking the plane The condition
of the fuselage after the crash was
such that all three antenna attach
mentS could be examined, he said,
and none showed evidence of
4SllIIllllS
Referring to a suggestion that
lightning might have struck in the
cockpit of the airplane and injured
or stunned the pilots, Mr.. Nichols
said that the master radio panel,
located Just o"er the heads of the
pilots, at the point where lightning
would have been most likely to
strike in the cockpit region, was re-
covered and showed no effects of
lightning. Even the static discharge
switches were found damned in neu-
trail, indicating that the pilot was
having no difficulty with static or
lightning effects. The examination
of radio parts indicated that the
pilots did not receive any shock or
burn through the radio equipment.