Narrative:

Upon lining up for takeoff out of ont, our radar indicated some buildups over pomona VOR and north of pom. So, for departure out of ont, we requested from tower to coordination a heading of 10 to 20 degrees left of runway heading for 10 NM past pom, before heading northwesterly, to fly west of buildups. Tower told us to expect that and we took off. On climb out, our plan was going well until second socal controller was contacted. He continued to try to give us north vectors toward buildups which we continued to advise were not acceptable. He seemed to be getting more and more agitated and less and less cooperative about our requests. Finally, we acceded to his vector to fly to the east of a buildup instead of our more favorable path to the west. At approximately 8500 ft MSL and 8 NM northwest of pom, we experienced a lightning strike, which we shakily reported to socal. All aircraft system were functioning normally, so we continued flight to pdx. Needless to say, all people on board were very startled and shaken by the strike. I always felt that controllers were fairly responsive to aircraft requests to avoid questionable WX (or other problems) without resorting to priority handling. Declaring an emergency for WX avoidance is an obvious option to avoid flight into a well-defined cell. However, these were small, level 2-3 type clouds. We avoided the red display, but skirted the yellow, and that was close enough for a strike. I will consider more seriously the option of emergency priority handling next time if any question exists about intensity of a buildup.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: THE FLC THOUGHT THEY HAD NEGOTIATED A DEP RTE W OF A LINE OF TSTMS PRIOR TO TKOF. DEP CTL INSISTED ON A RTE E OF THE TSTMS. THE FLC EXPERIENCED A LIGHTNING STRIKE. THE FLC REGRETTED THEY DID NOT DECLARE AN EMER IF NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE THE RTE W OF THE STORMS.

Narrative: UPON LINING UP FOR TKOF OUT OF ONT, OUR RADAR INDICATED SOME BUILDUPS OVER POMONA VOR AND N OF POM. SO, FOR DEP OUT OF ONT, WE REQUESTED FROM TWR TO COORD A HDG OF 10 TO 20 DEGS L OF RWY HDG FOR 10 NM PAST POM, BEFORE HDG NORTHWESTERLY, TO FLY W OF BUILDUPS. TWR TOLD US TO EXPECT THAT AND WE TOOK OFF. ON CLBOUT, OUR PLAN WAS GOING WELL UNTIL SECOND SOCAL CTLR WAS CONTACTED. HE CONTINUED TO TRY TO GIVE US N VECTORS TOWARD BUILDUPS WHICH WE CONTINUED TO ADVISE WERE NOT ACCEPTABLE. HE SEEMED TO BE GETTING MORE AND MORE AGITATED AND LESS AND LESS COOPERATIVE ABOUT OUR REQUESTS. FINALLY, WE ACCEDED TO HIS VECTOR TO FLY TO THE E OF A BUILDUP INSTEAD OF OUR MORE FAVORABLE PATH TO THE W. AT APPROX 8500 FT MSL AND 8 NM NW OF POM, WE EXPERIENCED A LIGHTNING STRIKE, WHICH WE SHAKILY RPTED TO SOCAL. ALL ACFT SYS WERE FUNCTIONING NORMALLY, SO WE CONTINUED FLT TO PDX. NEEDLESS TO SAY, ALL PEOPLE ON BOARD WERE VERY STARTLED AND SHAKEN BY THE STRIKE. I ALWAYS FELT THAT CTLRS WERE FAIRLY RESPONSIVE TO ACFT REQUESTS TO AVOID QUESTIONABLE WX (OR OTHER PROBS) WITHOUT RESORTING TO PRIORITY HANDLING. DECLARING AN EMER FOR WX AVOIDANCE IS AN OBVIOUS OPTION TO AVOID FLT INTO A WELL-DEFINED CELL. HOWEVER, THESE WERE SMALL, LEVEL 2-3 TYPE CLOUDS. WE AVOIDED THE RED DISPLAY, BUT SKIRTED THE YELLOW, AND THAT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH FOR A STRIKE. I WILL CONSIDER MORE SERIOUSLY THE OPTION OF EMER PRIORITY HANDLING NEXT TIME IF ANY QUESTION EXISTS ABOUT INTENSITY OF A BUILDUP.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.