APNewsBreak: FAA to examine airport towers

[Major Nikon]

3. Not any more than without those things

I'm both a pilot and someone who has engineered and installed lightning protection systems. I've visited towers and seen how the FAA does it. It's not that complicated. They install lightning rods on the top of the buildings higher than everything else and they install large diameter braided copper line than runs along the exterior of the building bonded to earth ground. This is industry standard (which many private entities don't comply with). While I haven't been to all FAA towers, the ones I have been to are this way so I have no reason to suspect they all aren't. The FAA reports this is the only instance where someone has been injured. If this is true it's a testament to how well their system works. There is no system that is going to guarantee their employees in all instances. A powerful enough lightning strike will find all paths to ground and not just those that have the least resistance.