I’m not an anxious flyer, but even I have to admit that the idea of a plane I’m in being struck by lightning mid-air terrifies me. Perhaps it shouldn’t ― after all, the National Weather Service of America says that most commercial planes “are hit by lightning an average of one or two times a year.” But why does it happen, and is it even dangerous for the passengers and crew inside? There’s a LOT more lightning than I realised Most lightning strikes to planes occur at altitudes between 5,000 and 15,000 feet, Simple Flying shared. That’s because takeoff and landing is when the vehicles pass through clouds, which are electrically charged. Edward J. Rupke, senior engineer at Lightning Technologies, Inc. told Scientific American that aeroplanes actually trigger lightning strikes as they pass through non-striking, but electrically-charged, clouds. “Actually, aircraft often initiate the strike because their presence enhances the ambient electric fields typical for thunderstorms and facilitates electrical breakdown through air,” the US National Weather Service explains. The strike attaches itself to an extremity like …