Thankfully, today’s travelers are unlikely to experience a tragedy such as one from Pan Am Flight 214 over Maryland nearly 62 years ago.
Today’s commercial aircraft can safely withstand lightning with little to no harm to anybody on board. Over 60 years ago, however, aircraft were more vulnerable to problems that came from lightning strikes, and that was especially true for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) Flight 214.
On 8 December 1963, Flight 214 took off after a refuel in Baltimore, Maryland, with the aircraft plummeting to the earth 35 minutes later. None of the 81 people on board survived the crash.
Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707-121, Crashed in Maryland Following a Lightning Strike
Pan Am Flight 214 departed San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 1610 local time. Almost reaching its destination in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the flight stopped at Baltimore’s Friendship International Airport (BAL) to refuel at 1935 local. An airline mechanic inspected the aircraft before taking off once more.
The crew aboard the flight turned back to Baltimore due to Philadelphia weather and waited in a holding pattern so the plane could safely land. The crew decided to return to BAL because Philadelphia was experiencing strong winds. The aircraft was reportedly flying at 5,000 feet during this pattern.
At 2058, lightning struck the Boeing, causing the fuel inside the reserves to explode and catch fire. The Philadelphia Approach Control frequency repeatedly received “Mayday” messages. Another transmission was heard saying, “Clipper 214 is going down in flames.”
The plane crashed two miles from Elkton, Maryland, with a large part of the plane’s left wing separated. All 73 passengers and eight crew members died.
Witnesses of the accident recalled a light rain that evening, with cloudy skies and lightning. According to a weather report in Wilmington, Delaware, nine miles east of the accident site, a thunderstorm began at 2054 local time, just a few minutes after the plane departed Baltimore.
In 1965, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) filed an extensive aircraft accident report of the flight.
How Lightning Brought Down a Boeing 707
Several key factors caused the vulnerability to lightning damage of the Boeing 707-121:
Lack of Protective Measures: In the 1960s, commercial aircraft didn’t have protection from lightning like they do today. These measures include static dischargers or protecting housing for fuel reserves. The Flight 214 crash led to research into improving and protecting the fuel tank to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Fuel Tank Design: Boeing also didn’t consider the risks of lightning strikes when designing the aircraft’s fuel tank. While investigators never determined the source of the ignition, researchers had a strong guess that it was a combination of improper bonding and the left wing’s skin overheating, exposing flammable fuel vapors from inside. This oversight would cause the lightning current to travel to the fuel tank and cause the ignition.
Opting For a Holding Pattern: In hindsight, putting the jet into a holding pattern at 5,000 feet was an extreme risk. Lightning is most prevalent at low altitudes; this type of lightning is known as ‘cloud-to-ground lightning.’
The Pan Am Flight 214 Tragedy Led to Important Improvements in Aviation Safety
Pan Am Flight 214 is often known as a ‘catalyst’ for researchers looking to prevent risks brought on by lightning when planning vehicle production.
Each airplane that flies regularly will be hit by lightning at least once yearly. Aircraft today are durable enough to withstand lightning strikes, which travel through the jet on their way to the Earth. The most damage lightning can typically cause is holes, cracks, or burn marks on the plane’s exterior.
More often than not, nobody on a commercial aircraft knows when a lightning strike occurs, thanks to decades of manufacturers overcoming the shortcomings that led to specific scenarios like the tragedy of Flight 214.
