Can planes take off during thunderstorms?
Generally speaking, planes are not allowed to take off during thunderstorms.
In terms of flight safety, it is generally possible to fly if it rains and does not affect normal visibility, except for thunderstorms. When an airplane flies during a thunderstorm, it will produce strong turbulence, which can easily damage the structure of the airplane. Strong lightning can also destroy the airplane.
Furthermore, the dangers of thunderstorms are mainly low-altitude wind shear, turbulence, ice accumulation, lightning strikes and low visibility.
The so-called low-altitude wind shear is the change of wind direction and speed at two points or two areas in low-altitude space. For example, if you are flying in a headwind and suddenly become a tailwind, it will be very dangerous if the airspeed suddenly decreases. .
Anyone who has flown may have experienced turbulence in the air. At this time, the flight attendant will immediately remind passengers to put away the tray table and fasten their seat belts.
Having said this, I would like to remind everyone that when flying in the future, if you are not going to the bathroom, it is best to fasten your seat belt at all times.
After all, turbulence in the air will not tell you in advance: we are about to get turbulent. In serious bumps, you may be thrown directly to the ceiling, or be thrown out of the seat and hit to death.
In addition, some serious ice accumulations will only be encountered when flying in the clouds. However, aircraft are strictly prohibited from flying into thunderstorm clouds. The most common thing in thunderstorms is lightning strikes. If an aircraft encounters a lightning strike during flight, it will cause the failure of airborne electrical equipment, especially communication and navigation equipment.
As for low visibility, civil aviation has strict visibility standards for aircraft takeoff and landing. Generally, when visibility is less than 1,000 meters, the takeoff and landing of flights will be affected. Although airplanes can fly, they are dangerous.
According to the unified standards of the international civil aviation industry, landing standards such as blind landing (where the pilot controls the aircraft to land without being able to see the airport runway clearly with the naked eye) require that the aircraft can see the runway 60 meters above the ground, and visibility It must be above 800 meters; Category II blind landing requires the aircraft to be able to see the runway when it is 30 meters above the ground, with visibility above 400 meters; Category III blind landing is divided into three levels: A, B, and C according to different visibility. The highest level of visibility is zero, which is a true total blind landing (landing without seeing anything, mostly in emergency landings of aircraft under some unexpected circumstances).
Therefore, from the perspective of passenger safety, most airlines will cancel flights when thunderstorms occur. If you encounter a thunderstorm on the route, you must fly around it. Turbulence will also occur when flying around. At this time, passengers must sit up and fasten their seat belts to ensure their own personal safety.