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How Did A Lightning Strike Improve Fuel Pressure Relief Technology?

The main evolutions in the transportation of volatile materials are primarily about safety, and improvements to pressure relief valves both in design and in operation have helped to avert disaster and save countless lives over the past few decades.

The impetus for evolution in the field of occupational safety often comes in the shadow of tragedy, however, and this is the case when it comes to designs that improve the safety and integrity of fuel tanks.

One of the most famous examples of this is the freak accident involvingPan Am Flight 214, a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a stopover in Baltimore, Maryland that flew on 8th December 1963.

However, on its approach to its final destination, a major thunderstorm emerged, and at some point the aircraft suddenly exploded, killing all 81 occupants.

The plane was a Boeing 707-121, which was at the time the oldest aircraft flying in the United States. However, the plane had no issues that had been detected leading up to the flight, and the aeroplane’s black box data recorder was damaged in a way that a crash would have simply been unable to cause.

Pilot error was ruled out as well, which led to the most improbable cause turning out to be the only possible one; a lightning bolt had struck the left wing.

This lighting strike subsequently ignited fuel vapours in the fuel tanks built into the wings and caused a fatal explosion.

This led to multiple changes to try and ensure that a freak lighting strike could not lead to a fatal accident again, including flame traps being installed to quickly extinguish flames and stop a potential explosion, as well as electrical bonding the entire surface of the wings and any other components installed close to these tanks such as filler caps and drain valves.