Crj flight crew experiences a lightning strike during night approach with the tower closed. The numb...

Narrative:

This was a short flight at 10;000 ft with fast moving thunderstorms around the area. Enroute we held northeast of the airport to wait out a storm moving across the field. Conferring with center and using aircraft weather radar we had large enough gap between thunderstorms to fly the ILS and if we missed we would return to departure airport. Exiting the hold; the aircraft was struck by lightning from the thunderstorm off our left side. Initially we had normal operations; i.e. Aircraft was performing as expected everything was working. However; soon the number two radio had static that became severe; and the autopilot disengaged and the aircraft rolled towards the terrain. The first officer re-engaged the autopilot no further problems were experienced. Then we transitioned from IMC to VMC; with the airport insight. After switching to the CTAF; the runway lights wouldn't turn on; however; the airport beacon; the PAPI; and terminal light were on. We talked about having no runway lights and if we should land? We made the decision to continue and land if the runway and all of its markings were insight; and the approach was stable. The decision to land 'if' safely possible was made because of the lightning strike; the problems with the number two radio; and the missed approach course had a thunderstorm moving in on it. The thunderstorm over the missed course was the biggest factor; and the fact that the runway was insight; made landing the safest choice at that moment. The altitude to see the runway and all its markings was decided to be 500 AGL if it wasn't insight clearly we would go-around. Actually with the ambient light; the lightning flashes from the east and south; the airport lighting; and the aircraft landing lights the runway was clearly visible at 500 AGL; and continued to be visible down to touchdown and rollout. The CTAF frequency was tuned in on the number two radio and center was on the number one radio; looking back I should have selected the CTAF into the number one radio when the lights wouldn't work on the number two radio. After landing the runway lights would work on the number one radio. The aircraft was written up for a lightning strike after we had landed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ flight crew experiences a lightning strike during night approach with the Tower closed. The number two radio is compromised and the runway lights are not activated prior to landing in VMC.

Narrative: This was a short flight at 10;000 FT with fast moving thunderstorms around the area. Enroute we held northeast of the airport to wait out a storm moving across the field. Conferring with Center and using aircraft weather radar we had large enough gap between thunderstorms to fly the ILS and if we missed we would return to departure airport. Exiting the hold; the aircraft was struck by lightning from the thunderstorm off our left side. Initially we had normal operations; i.e. aircraft was performing as expected everything was working. However; soon the number two radio had static that became severe; and the autopilot disengaged and the aircraft rolled towards the terrain. The First Officer re-engaged the autopilot no further problems were experienced. Then we transitioned from IMC to VMC; with the airport insight. After switching to the CTAF; the runway lights wouldn't turn on; however; the airport beacon; the PAPI; and terminal light were on. We talked about having no runway lights and if we should land? We made the decision to continue and land if the runway and all of its markings were insight; and the approach was stable. The decision to land 'if' safely possible was made because of the lightning strike; the problems with the number two radio; and the missed approach course had a thunderstorm moving in on it. The thunderstorm over the missed course was the biggest factor; and the fact that the runway was insight; made landing the safest choice at that moment. The altitude to see the runway and all its markings was decided to be 500 AGL if it wasn't insight clearly we would go-around. Actually with the ambient light; the lightning flashes from the east and south; the airport lighting; and the aircraft landing lights the runway was clearly visible at 500 AGL; and continued to be visible down to touchdown and rollout. The CTAF frequency was tuned in on the number two radio and Center was on the number one radio; looking back I should have selected the CTAF into the number one radio when the lights wouldn't work on the number two radio. After landing the runway lights would work on the number one radio. The aircraft was written up for a lightning strike after we had landed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	947211
Time
Date	201104
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	VHF
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 13700 Flight Crew Type 9000
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 220 Flight Crew Total 6580 Flight Crew Type 3560
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Crj flight crew experiences a lightning strike during night approach with the tower closed. The number two radio is compromised and the runway lights are not activated prior to landing in VMC.