2023-07 · NASA ASRS report 2016527
B787 crew reported aircraft damage (hail and or lightning strike) that was detected post-flight after penetrating a thunderstorm while on descent for landing.
During descent into ZZZ; there were multiple large areas of moderate thunderstorms blocking arrivals. Multiple deviations were requested and granted by ATC. At one point; however; storms began intensifying on Wx Radar quickly closing gaps for deviations. Crew conferred and selected two paths; both of which would result in penetration of storm cells. I chose a left deviation and requested same from ATC. They responded with 'passing FL230 deviation is approved'. I should have communicated to ATC at that point we needed the deviation immediately. The delay was only about 30-60 seconds; and then I told ATC we needed to begin deviation now; Passing FL250; we began turn to left. Aircraft performance resulted in a bank angle of 15 degrees. F/O (First Officer) PF (Pilot flying) quickly determined that turn radius would not keep us clear of cell. I advised to disconnect autopilot and steepen turn. This still caused us to clip the edge of the storm cell resulting in moderate to heavy precipitation and moderate turbulence (passengers and F/As (Flight Attendants) had been instructed to be seated much earlier for this possibility...no injuries). This lasted for about 1 minutes before we flew clear of storm cell.We discussed whether or not there could have been any damage and agreed there was probably none. I decided to not submit any Maintenance write-up unless I viewed damage after we landed.Upon landing; I was unable to access ramp due to International Arrival (Customs); but viewed aircraft left wing and left engine nacelle from jet bridge. I saw no damage but decided to call maintenance control (no way to call Station Maintenance as we had departed the jet) and report the possibility of damage. Maintenance control advised he would not enter a write-up at that point but would have ZZZ maintenance control perform a cursory inspection based upon my verbal report. After reaching hotel; I reviewed the ELB (Electronic logbook) for this aircraft and found there was indeed some damage. In reviewing my actions during the event; there are several decisions I could have made to perhaps mitigate the outcome.1. I should have been more proactive with ATC regarding the urgency of the deviation turn.2. I could have been more directive; earlier in the deviation turn to either select 'Max Bank Angle' on MCP (Mode Control Panel) or to disengage the autopilot to increase the bank angle manually. I am not certain this would have kept us clear though. 3. Perhaps a deviation the other direction (which was discussed) may have kept us clear. However; that direction had large areas of magenta on the radar and may have resulted in a severe turbulence event. In the future; I will be more proactive to submit a write-up when in doubt and initiate an earlier verbal report to maintenance control rather than following up after the event.
During descent into ZZZ on the ZZZZZ arrival; there were multiple large areas of moderate thunderstorms blocking arrivals. Multiple deviations were requested and changes to arrivals occurred 3 times. At one point; however; storms began intensifying on Wx Radar quickly closing gaps for deviations. Crew conferred and selected two paths; both of which would result in penetration of storms or severe turbulence being indicated on the weather radar. Our crew chose a left deviation with a hard 90 degree turn immediately to skirt the primary storm. They responded with 'passing FL230 deviation is approved'. The delay was only about 30-60 seconds; but we relayed the urgency of the turn and it was granted. Aircraft performance resulted in a bank angle of 15 degrees. F/O (First Officer) PF (Pilot Flying) quickly determined that turn radius would not keep us clear of cell. I advised to disconnect autopilot and steepen turn. This still caused us to clip the edge of the storm cell resulting in moderate to heavy precipitation and moderate turbulence (passengers and F/As (Flight Attendants) had been instructed to be seated much earlier for this possibility...no injuries). Once clear of this cell; the weather more or less resolved. Crew didn't suspect any damage to the aircraft.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.