Narrative:

I was enroute at 12000 feet IFR. The flight was in visual conditions for the first approximately 3.5 hours. There was a broken line of scattered showers running from southwest to northeast about 100 NM from my destination. I checked the xm weather in the plane for lightning associated with the system; and saw no strikes from about 100 miles out.approaching the system I was given the usual arrival change to my flight plan and was cleared for deviations for weather by center. I discussed the path through the scattered storms and determined that the controller's opinion of the best path around cells was the same as my radar showed; which I confirmed to him.approaching the cloud bank; I went into IMC and encountered turbulence. I was flying on instruments with the autopilot set; when I heard a loud bang and felt an impact on the left side of the plane and saw that the wingtip tank had exploded and a fragment was visible; wrapped around the airstream and facing the cabin; inside out. I determined that the airplane was upright but had lost altitude.the controller called me to tell me my altitude was low; which I knew; by about 400 feet because of the turbulence and damage. I did not want to make abrupt altitude or heading changes due to concerns about controllability and possible further damage to the airframe in the turbulence. I informed the controller that I had suffered an apparent lightning strike and that the left tip tank had exploded. The controller asked and I confirmed that the airplane was producing good power and had plenty of fuel in other tanks; and that the tank that was damaged had already been used and was empty except for residual fuel.in further radio calls I confirmed that the airplane was 'aerodynamically a little weird' but otherwise controllable. The drag from the left side was causing the ship to fly in a slight right bank; which I later found could be corrected with right rudder; and had lost about 20 kts of airspeed. During these subsequent conversations the controller confirmed the state of [the aircraft] and asked for fuel (2.5 hrs.) and sob. He offered landing at a nearby un-towered airport and I declined due to my desire to remain in as steady a flight condition as possible until I felt confident the plane was safe; plus I did not want to be looking for an unfamiliar airport in IMC with a damaged aircraft. We agreed that I would be behind the storm system and most likely in clear air in 15 minutes or so. I did request and received a lower altitude because the OAT was just at zero and I was in a cloud.I received further vectors when the flight was handed off to TRACON; resulting in an almost straight flight path to [the airport] once another storm system had passed that airport. One controller advised me that [another airport] had gone VFR and was near my location. By that time I was confident that the plane had no structural damage and was quite controllable. I told the controller that I was sure the plane was in jeopardy and just wanted to get it to its home base where it could be repaired by my usual maintenance shop; which had originally installed the tip tanks and fully knew that system.I arrived at [my destination] a few moments and discussed the issue with the firefighters who had rolled to the ramp in wait; and turned the plane so that the tower controller could see the damage. After confirming that I was safe and in good health; the firefighters left and I received a clearance to taxi to my hangar.I'm not sure if I know how this could be avoided in the future. I have approached and flown through many weather scenarios that were like this or worse with nothing more than a rough ride and a wet airplane. The key to my thought was assuring myself that lightning was not present; but I think I should have checked for lightning again when I was closer; although the bolt that hit me might well have been the only one there was. I am researching adding static wicks to the airplane to see if these will reduce the likelihood of the airframe attracting lightning; and if I determine that they are effective I intend to install them.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE36 pilot reported that due to a lightning strike the wing tip tank exploded.

Narrative: I was enroute at 12000 feet IFR. The flight was in visual conditions for the first approximately 3.5 hours. There was a broken line of scattered showers running from southwest to northeast about 100 NM from my destination. I checked the XM weather in the plane for lightning associated with the system; and saw no strikes from about 100 miles out.Approaching the system I was given the usual arrival change to my flight plan and was cleared for deviations for weather by Center. I discussed the path through the scattered storms and determined that the controller's opinion of the best path around cells was the same as my radar showed; which I confirmed to him.Approaching the cloud bank; I went into IMC and encountered turbulence. I was flying on instruments with the autopilot set; when I heard a loud bang and felt an impact on the left side of the plane and saw that the wingtip tank had exploded and a fragment was visible; wrapped around the airstream and facing the cabin; inside out. I determined that the airplane was upright but had lost altitude.The controller called me to tell me my altitude was low; which I knew; by about 400 feet because of the turbulence and damage. I did not want to make abrupt altitude or heading changes due to concerns about controllability and possible further damage to the airframe in the turbulence. I informed the controller that I had suffered an apparent lightning strike and that the left tip tank had exploded. The controller asked and I confirmed that the airplane was producing good power and had plenty of fuel in other tanks; and that the tank that was damaged had already been used and was empty except for residual fuel.In further radio calls I confirmed that the airplane was 'aerodynamically a little weird' but otherwise controllable. The drag from the left side was causing the ship to fly in a slight right bank; which I later found could be corrected with right rudder; and had lost about 20 kts of airspeed. During these subsequent conversations the controller confirmed the state of [the aircraft] and asked for fuel (2.5 hrs.) and SOB. He offered landing at a nearby un-towered airport and I declined due to my desire to remain in as steady a flight condition as possible until I felt confident the plane was safe; plus I did not want to be looking for an unfamiliar airport in IMC with a damaged aircraft. We agreed that I would be behind the storm system and most likely in clear air in 15 minutes or so. I did request and received a lower altitude because the OAT was just at zero and I was in a cloud.I received further vectors when the flight was handed off to TRACON; resulting in an almost straight flight path to [the airport] once another storm system had passed that airport. One controller advised me that [another airport] had gone VFR and was near my location. By that time I was confident that the plane had no structural damage and was quite controllable. I told the controller that I was sure the plane was in jeopardy and just wanted to get it to its home base where it could be repaired by my usual maintenance shop; which had originally installed the tip tanks and fully knew that system.I arrived at [my destination] a few moments and discussed the issue with the firefighters who had rolled to the ramp in wait; and turned the plane so that the tower controller could see the damage. After confirming that I was safe and in good health; the firefighters left and I received a clearance to taxi to my hangar.I'm not sure if I know how this could be avoided in the future. I have approached and flown through many weather scenarios that were like this or worse with nothing more than a rough ride and a wet airplane. The key to my thought was assuring myself that lightning was not present; but I think I should have checked for lightning again when I was closer; although the bolt that hit me might well have been the only one there was. I am researching adding static wicks to the airplane to see if these will reduce the likelihood of the airframe attracting lightning; and if I determine that they are effective I intend to install them.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.