A B727-200 CAPT RPTS A LIGHTNING STRIKE APCHING IND.

Narrative

WE WERE CLRED TO DEVIATE AS NECESSARY AROUND A LINE OF TSTMS WHICH EXTENDED E/W FROM ABOUT EVANSVILLE TO 30 MI S OF IND. OUR WX RADAR SEEMED TO BE DOING A GOOD JOB OF PAINTING THIS LINE. WE DEVIATED W TO AN AREA WHICH LOOKED TO BE LIGHT RAIN ONLY. ZID QUESTIONED THIS CHOICE AND DESCRIBED THE LINE AS 'PRETTY SOLID;' BUT SAID HE WASN'T PAINTING EVERYTHING. IT WAS 'COMING IN AND OUT.' THAT AGREED WITH WHAT OUR RADAR WAS SHOWING IN GENERAL; BUT THE SPECIFIC AREA WE WERE HEADED FOR LOOKED GOOD. AT THAT TIME OF DAY IT WAS HARD TO SEE ANY POSSIBLE BUILDUPS WELL. WHEN WE SWITCHED TO APCH CTL; WE OVERHEARD PIREPS FROM ANOTHER ACR AHEAD WHO HAD JUST GONE THROUGH THE SAME AREA. HE CALLED IT HVY RAIN AND OCCASIONAL MODERATE TURB; BUT LASTING ONLY BRIEFLY. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS; WE WERE ALSO IN HVY RAIN AND TURB AND RECEIVED A LIGHTNING STRIKE. ACFT SYS WERE UNAFFECTED; SO COULD ONLY BE DETERMINED DURING POSTFLT INSPECTION. A NUMBER OF RIVETS WERE POPPED AND 2 PAX WINDOW FRAMES BADLY DAMAGED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR FLIES THE B727-200. THERE WAS NO PROB WITH THE ELECTRONICS BECAUSE OF THE STRIKE. SEVERAL RIVETS WERE POPPED ALONG WITH 2 PAX WINDOW FRAMES DAMAGED. 1 STATIC WICK WAS ALSO BLOWN AWAY. THE RPTR FOLLOWED ANOTHER ACR ACFT THROUGH THE AREA THAT HAD NO PROB. THE RPTR REGRETS THAT HE DID NOT ASK FOR MORE HELP FROM ATC. HE BELIEVES THAT HIS RADAR WAS WORKING PROPERLY AND RECOGNIZES THAT HIS RADAR DOES A BETTER JOB PAINTING WX THAN DOES THE ARTCC RADAR.