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Why don't the aeroplane get hit by lightening when there is thunderstorm?

This occurs because the vehicle acts like a Faraday cage. Michael Faraday, a British physicist, discovered that a metal cage would shield objects within the cage when a high potential discharge hit the cage. The metal, being a good conductor, would direct the current around the objects and discharge it safely to the ground. This process of shielding is widely used today to protect the electrostatic sensitive integrated circuits in the electronics world.The metal skin of the plane conducts the current on the outside like a Faraday cage. Fuel tanks are now designed to prevent entry of electrical charges.


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