How pilots avoid thunderstorms—and what happens when they can’t

How pilots avoid thunderstorms—and what happens when they can’t

In the 2023 movie Plane starring Gerard Butler, a commercial aircraft is caught in a terrible storm. Dark purple thunderclouds suffocate the sky. The plane shakes and the lights go out. Turbulence throws an unbelted passenger across the cabin. Eventually a lightning strike cuts the plane’s power, forcing it to crash land in a warzone, where the movie’s story really begins. In reality, plane crashes in thunderstorms are extremely rare—largely bec…