New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa

Media Release
12 June 2009

Lightning Strikes Air Force Orion In Canada

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The damaged radome of an RNZAF P-3K Orion after a lightning strike while on Exercise Maple Guardian in Canada.

An RNZAF Orion aircraft with 16 people on board was hit by lightning while taking part in an exercise in Wainwright, Alberta, Canada. The strike occurred on Tuesday morning, New Zealand time (Monday afternoon local) while the aircraft was providing overland surveillance for Canadian forces as part of Exercise Maple Guardian 09. No one was injured in the incident.

Commanding Officer Number 5 Squadron, Wing Commander Nick Olney said, ”Immediately following the lightning strike the crew followed aircraft checklists to ensure all primary and flight critical systems were functional.

“Once it was determined the aircraft had come through the lightning strike with no major structural or control issues, the sortie was immediately aborted and the aircraft returned to our operating base in Comox for maintenance personnel to conduct a thorough aircraft inspection.

“The damage to the radome looks quite dramatic, however at no stage was structural integrity nor safety of flight compromised. The aircraft performed as designed and the aircraft radome really took one for the team in this case,”said WGCDR Olney Nick Olney.

A replacement radome is being sent to Canada to enable the aircraft to return to New Zealand.

Extra Information

Radome: The radome is the nose cone of the aircraft or in other words the dome covering the radar. Behind it is the radar antenna. The radome is constructed from a honeycomb composite. It has metallic lightning strips embedded in it to conduct electricity (lightning strikes) from the radome to the aircraft fuselage where it is dissipated.
Background – No 5 Squadron

• Today, No.5 Squadron is one of the force elements under the command of the Air Component Commander JFHQ. Located at RNZAF Base Auckland, the Squadron is the RNZAF's only maritime patrol Squadron and is responsible for surveillance of New Zealand's maritime area of interest which is approximately 1/12 of the world's ocean surface, ranging from the Antarctic to the equator.

• No.5 Squadron consists of approximately 145 members and is allocated approximately 2,500 hours a year to meet NZDF Maritime Patrol Force requirements such as:

* Maritime surveillance
* Maritime reconnaissance
* Exclusive Economic Zone patrols
* Anti-submarine warfare
* Anti-surface unit warfare
* Search and rescue

• To continue the Orion capability into the future the RNZAF are upgrading the flight deck, data management system, the sensors, the communications and navigation systems, mission support and maintenance systems. This will allow the aircraft to conduct a broader range of surveillance and reconnaissance operations, and use its surveillance capabilities much more effectively. This project is expected to extend the operational life of the Orions beyond 2020. These new capabilities will ensure that No. 5 Squadron will continue to span the ocean.

There are currently 886 New Zealand Defence Force personnel are deployed on 14 operations, UN missions and defence exercises in 10 countries around the world.

ENDS

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