[skeptoid]

'If all power was lost the plane couldn't be flown manually could it.'

Yes, it could. A memorable example is the Gimli Glider (gim'-lee) a Boeing 767 that ran out of fuel and dead-sticked an "impeccable" landing on an abandonded runway being used as a racetrack!

It's called 'manual reversion'.

[slapshot]

I would have thought that etoh + lightning = bigass boom