I read with great interest the NTSB report of the reported in-flight breakup
of N29ME which crashed in the vicinity of what were probably thunder storms.

It's probably too soon to tell what the actual cause of the crash was. Could
have been excessive speed in turbulence. Could have been bond failure. Could
have been loss of control. Could have been hit by lightning. Could have been
something else.

I fly a Baron for a living which is equipped with weather radar and a
Stormscope. Each one detects what the other cannot. NEVER be fooled into
thinking that ATC can steer you around electrical activity. Radar sees
precipitation echos and THAT'S ALL.

IF it was lightning, I think we all must agree that our composite aircraft
are more vulnerable than aluminum ones. On that note I thought I'd pass on a
little story I heard, which by definition becomes hearsay. Please take it as
such.

In March I attended my local area annual IA renewal program. This year it
was a little different. We had a variety of speakers from different areas of
interest. One of those was a representative from Cirrus Design. As luck
would have it he and I had lunch together.

I asked him about a variety of things including lightning protection issues.
He noted that until very recently they had not had a Cirrus hit by
lightning, and the results were VERY surprising. I pressed him a bit and he
finally revealed what they found.

Cirrus when they build their planes paint them all white. For reasons that I
suppose are largely economic they do not paint the stripes on their planes.
Instead they use enormous pressure sensitive (peel and stick) appliqués to
form the striping. Turns out that many if not all of these appliqués use
some kind of metallic foil or particles or something in the body of the
material.

The Cirrus that got hit had the lightning strike part of the plane and the
load of the strike was carried by the appliqué to a point where it left the
airframe and passed back into the air. I have no idea of the extent of the
damage elsewhere to the aircraft. Nor do I know what the intensity of the
strike was.

I think I'll be considering adding some kind of metallic electrical path to
my fuselage somehow. Don't know what it will be but I'm thinking about it.
And I sure as hell won't be flying around in areas of atmospheric electrical
activity without a working Stormscope, and even then I'll be giving them a
wide berth.

Ted Stanley - ATP - A&P/IA - 11K PIC



NTSB Identification: ATL03LA094
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, May 16, 2003 in Allendale, SC
Aircraft: Opperman Lancair IV, registration: N29ME
Injuries: 4 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors.
Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been
completed.

On May 16, 2003, at 1758 eastern daylight time, an Opperman Lancair IV,
N29ME, registered to Moser Aviation LLC, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91
personal flight, broke up in-flight in the vicinity of Allendale, South
Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument
flight rules flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The
commercial pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The flight
originated from Portland, Indiana, on May 16, 2003, at 1445 central daylight
time.

A witness stated he was sitting in his yard. It was thundering but had not
started to rain. He heard an airplane approaching his location traveling
towards Allendale from Columbia, South Carolina. He looked up but could not
see the airplane due to the cloud cover. The engine sounded like it was at
full power and then decreased to idle power. He then heard a sound described
as an explosion. He looked in the direction of the sound and observed the
cabin area come out of the clouds with the wings falling to the ground
behind the airplane.

Review of communications between the pilot of N29ME and Jacksonville center
revealed the pilot contacted Jacksonville center at 1730, at cruise altitude
of 17,000 feet. The pilot requested to deviate to the left for weather. The
controller instructed the pilot to stay on his present heading until clear
of traffic. The controller asked the pilot if he was weather radar capable.
The pilot stated he had a storm scope but it was not working. The controller
informed the pilot there was a broken line of weather extending from the
northwest to the southeast. He informed the pilot if he wanted to deviate to
his right he should fly a heading of 200-degrees magnetic for about 30 to 40
miles. If he wanted to deviate to his left he should fly a heading of 120 to
125-degrees for about 70 miles. The pilot elected to go to the right. At
1741 the flight was cleared to 13,000 feet. At 1745, the flight was cleared
direct to Buford, South Carolina. The pilot informed the controller he would
proceed direct in about 5 miles. At 1749, the flight was cleared to 11,000
feet and he acknowledged the clearance. There was no other recorded
communication between the pilot and Jacksonville center. At 1755:07, the
aircraft was observed on radar at 11,100 feet. At 1755:19, the aircraft was
at 11,000 feet. The last recorded mode "C" transponder was at 1755:31, at
11,700 feet.