posted on Dec, 11 2019 @ 09:26 PM
a reply to:
Zaphod58
I don't know much about composite behaviors with lightning strikes except I recall the Bristow Helicopters Flight 56C in 1995 had a composite tail
rotor with some conductive metal, which had to autorotate onto rough seas after the tail rotor failed from a lighting strike.
Hopefully what was learned from that has been integrated in to modern lightning tests, but I also remember the 747 met all required tests when the
center fuel tank exploded on TWA 800, though not due to a lightning strike, but it made me wonder if all the test requirements were really sufficient
if it passed all the tests and something like that can happen.
So I have no idea how much of a safety issue this cost reduction change is, but there doesn't seem to be much question of a safety culture problem at
Boeing when digging into the factors leading up to the 737MAX groundings.