Eruptions of Volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland
Photo Credit: Boaworm (https://tinyurl.com/5n6e5udc)
Flight risks with volcanic ash after eruptions
Anxious moments arose when a warning came that volcanic ash will soon sweep over the Malaysian airspace due the recent volcanic eruptions.
This main eruption happened at Mount Ruang on April 16, 2024 in North Sulawesi, Indonesia and about 600 miles east of Tawau in Sabah.
The ash clouds which spread westerly at speeds of around 30 knots and reaching heights of 55,000 feet, intensified and prompted closure of airports. It left thousands of passengers stranded.
Volcanic ash poses a serious safety hazard to flights due to its composition of pulverized rock and glass which are abrasive and can damage aircraft components.
Cockpit windows are susceptible to scratching akin to sandpaper, while the pulverized materials can taint the fuel nozzles and turbine blades, leading to engine failures.
The infamous incident involved a British Airways Boeing 747 flying from Kuala Lumpur to Perth in 1982. The plane which flew through ash clouds that resulted in the failure of all four engines, serves as a stark reminder of its potential dangers.
Thankfully, 3 engines were successfully recovered and the plane landed safely at Jakarta.
Similarly, a KLM B747 also encountered ash cloud in 1989, causing all four engines to fail. While fortunate to restart the engines at lower altitudes, such events highlight the critical need for proactive measures.
In response, the establishment of Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs) in 1991 aimed to mitigate these risks. Subsequent revisions by regulatory bodies, such as the UK CAA which set the safe ash particle limits to 4 mg per cubic meter of airspace, have further enhanced the safety protocols.
Airspace regulators deemed that if ash concentration rose above the danger level that they consider unsafe, they would close the airspace.
In my flying career, the worst volcanic disruption that affected our flights to London was the eruptions in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland in 2010.
It disrupted air travel in all controlled airspace of many European countries and resulted in the largest air-traffic shut-down since World War II.
Even though the Mount Ruang eruptions started about a fortnight ago, the fine ash particles may remain in the atmosphere for days to weeks until dispersed by high-altitude winds.
The difficulty is that weather radar will not detect the small particles in the ash clouds and crews may not get any advance warning of entering the ash cloud as happened on the British Airway B747 flight.
As such, the safest option then is to avoid areas affected by the volcanic ash clouds.
Normally, airlines would notify passengers of any flight cancellations due to volcanic ash. However, if you find yourself uninformed, a lot of inconveniences can occur, yet at the end of the day, it is for your safety.
Wishing you all a safe flight always!
View a YouTube video “Did a Volcanic Eruption Cause BA Flight 09’s Engines to Fail?”