The Scale of the Problem
According to FAA data, commercial aircraft are struck by lightning approximately once per year per aircraft — roughly once every 1,000 flight hours. For airport infrastructure on the ground, the exposure is even higher: control towers, radar domes, navigation aids and fuel handling equipment are stationary, elevated, and often isolated — exactly the conditions that maximise lightning strike probability.
A single strike event at a busy airport can: disable instrument landing systems and force diversions; destroy radar equipment worth millions of dollars; ignite fuel during transfer operations; damage runway lighting and create a ground hazard; and disrupt communication systems across the entire facility. The consequences extend far beyond the immediate hardware damage.
Air Traffic Control Towers
ATC towers present a unique challenge: they are tall, contain vast amounts of sensitive electronics, and cannot be taken offline for maintenance without serious operational impact. They require Level I protection (98% efficiency) under NFC 17-102 — the highest available standard.
A complete ATC tower protection system requires: ESE lightning rods at the tower apex, correctly positioned to protect the radar, communication antennae and rooftop equipment; multiple down conductors with test joints, routed to avoid the tower's electronic equipment rooms; a verified low-resistance earthing system (typically a buried ring electrode with deep-driven ground rods); and coordinated Type 1/2/3 SPDs on every electrical and communication service entering the building.
ORBITAL's HELIA ESE Lightning Rod is well-suited for ATC tower apex installations, providing the maximum NFC 17-102 protection radius with a single lightning rod. Paired with VIRTU Strike Counters, the system provides ongoing documentation of strike events for maintenance records.
Radar Systems and Navigation Aids
Radar systems are simultaneously one of the most exposed and most sensitive components of airport infrastructure. The rotating antenna is elevated, metallic, and connected via coaxial cables to sensitive receiver electronics — making it both a preferential attachment point for lightning and a direct path for surge current into the equipment room.
Navigation aids (ILS localiser, glide slope, VOR, DME) are typically located at the runway threshold — exposed, ground-level structures on flat terrain. Their protection requires a combination of ESE lightning rods or conventional rods at appropriate height and a complete SPD scheme on all RF cable and power entries.
Aircraft Lightning Protection
Aircraft are designed to be struck by lightning — and to survive it. The aircraft skin (aluminium or carbon fibre composite with embedded conductive mesh) acts as a Faraday cage, conducting the strike current from attachment point to exit point without it passing through the aircraft interior or avionics.
Lightning protection for aircraft is governed by DO-160 (RTCA) and MIL-STD-464 (military). These standards define attachment zone classification, current waveform test levels, and bonding requirements for all aircraft systems. Airport-based ground handling equipment, fuel trucks and jetways must be bonded to a common earthing point before fuel transfer operations to prevent spark ignition from static discharge.
What a Complete Airport LPS Looks Like
A fully protected airport facility requires a coordinated approach across all areas: runway lighting vaults with Type 1 SPDs; instrument landing system buildings with ESE protection and full SPD coordination; fuel farm with Level I ESE protection and complete metallic bonding; ATC tower with ESE apex lightning rod, tested earthing system and multi-stage SPD on all services; and regular inspection and testing using certified test equipment.
ORBITAL has supplied lightning protection systems to aviation facilities across multiple countries. Contact our engineers for a project-specific assessment and system design — free of charge.