What happens when my plane gets struck by lightning in a thunderstorm?

Hey. Wait a minute. Planes don't get struck by lightening silly !!!

Well no Bob, you are incorrect. Planes DO get struck by lightening.

Do you think it is rare? ... lets take a look at statistics....

No. No it is not rare. On average, EVERY PLANE GETS STRUCK by lightening MORE THAN ONCE EVERY YEAR.

My pilot will just fly around the thunderstorm. We won't get struck by lightening. Yey!!!

You could be correct, and hopefully you are. But know this, not all thunderstorms are avoidable. It is estimated that there are 2,000 thunderstorms happening on Earth at any given time so it would be impossible to avoid them completely.

So when my plane gets hit by lightening, what will happen to me? or my plane?

Bluntly, you could die.

We won't go into detail, as you can write an essay on this subject. But lets just think about planes.. their fuel tanks... lightning... sparks... fire. Not good.

Yes planes have crashed because of getting struck by lightening (due to damage to the plane, caused by lightning, and of course other factors) and Yes planes can fly straight through after getting hit by lightening unscathed.

Source: Centennial of Flight http://www.centennialofflight.gov/2003FF/lightning/multiplequiz.html