The risks of volcanic ash in aviation

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Learn in this installment about the risks of volcanic ash in aviation, a seemingly harmless phenomenon, but which is very serious for the industry.

Several times we have spoken in this space about the strict, regulated and safe that the airline industry is, reviewing, for example, phenomena that could put operational safety at risk such as winds, wind shear, invisible turbulence, birds and other important factors/phenomena when talking about safety.

Among the hundreds of factors that influence a flight, climatological, for instance, are one of the most important and attention of airlines and pilots, but one of these natural phenomena draws much more attention and concern from the industry than others.

Volcanic ash

Although we might think that ash is nothing more than a "relative" of the dust that the wind can raise and carry, the reality is very different and volcanic ash in aviation is a very dangerous factor that is not monitored or the necessary measures are taken, could even cause a plane crash.

Why is volcanic ash dangerous?

According to usgs.gov – United States Geological Survey, volcanic ash ejected into the atmosphere by explosive eruptions has had damaging effects on aircraft. Ash particles can wear down forward facing surfaces, like windshields, fuselage surfaces and engine compressor blades.

Ash contamination can also lead to failures of critical navigation and operating instruments.. What's more, the melting temperature of glassy silicate material in an ash cloud is lower than combustion temperatures in modern jet engines; consequently, ash particles drawn into an engine can quickly melt and accumulate as solidified deposits on cooler parts, which deteriorates engine performance, even, to the point of loss of compressor power in flight and loss of thrust power.

The most serious effects are in the engines, where ash can erode the engine compressor blades reducing their efficiency, block fuel nozzles, clog air filters, melt with heat and then solidify into a vitreous enamel that coats vital engine components, covering and isolating the fuel system temperature sensors, which causes incorrect readings in the cabin and contaminates the oil system and affects the "bleed air" system., which is mainly used for pressurize the cabin.

Aerial incidents with volcanic ash

From 1953 until the 2009, have been counted a total of 129 volcanic ash incident reports, of which 94 of them were confirmed as the cause of the incident this phenomenon. of confirmed incidents 20 were of low degree of affectation and at least 26 of them with damage or serious affectations to the engines and fuselage, while a total of 9 events generated critical engine failures, turning these off.

One of the most important incidents recorded was the case of the British Airways Speedbird flight 9, a Boeing 747-236B which was in flight over Indonesia when it encountered a cloud of volcanic ash, without the pilots knowing or having knowledge.

Originating from the eruption of Mount Galunggung located about 180 kilometers from where the aircraft was, the cloud caused the four engines to turn off at 11 thousand meters high, which generated a quick reaction from the pilots, who were able to bring the aircraft to the ground by gliding and managing to restart the engines to finally land in Jakarta with only 3 operating engines, but without any victim to mourn, but it does show how critical and dangerous this type of event is for aviation.

what the industry does

Volcanic ash is not only of interest and concern to aviation, but also of the world authorities in general for its potential risks to health and the infrastructure that this could generate..

for aviation, volcanic ash is highly monitored with the help of satellites, infrared images and government reports with which the well-known ASHTAMs are generated, which are a kind of NOTAM where pilots and airlines can know the conditions and variations of ash on their routes and destinations.

An additional measure is now available on some aircraft, where cockpit displays can show the presence of volcanic ash, which facilitates decision making and notification of these events in the air.

Volcanic ash in airports

logically, airplanes are not the only ones affected by volcanic ash, but also the airport infrastructure can also suffer the ravages of these phenomena, affecting your operation, even if the eruption did not occur near.

The main effects on airports are the cessation of operations, infrastructure damage and aircraft damage on the ground, which has led to the 2009, 101 airports in 28 different countries have been affected by the eruptions of 46 volcanoes, highlighting that these were more than 150 kilometers from the emitting volcano.

Equally, airports that are aware of the potential risks of ash, They have action plans to be able to counteract these emergencies and reduce their impact on operations and users as much as possible..

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