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Flying in Volcanic Ash?

Lawrence Rippon

Lawrence Rippon

New member
LEICESTER UK
Aircraft Year
1977
Aircraft Type
112B
Reg Number
G-BEPY
Serial Number
524
You may have heard that all of Western Europe and Scandinavia are closed to IFR Traffic and in some countries to VFR as well. There is a cloud of volcanic ash drifting over from Iceland.

With almost no experience of this in Europe, I thought I'd ask those of you who have to deal with this phenomenon on a more regular basis what the dangers are.

Currently the cloud is sitting around 6,000' to FL25 and is extremely dispersed we are some 900 miles from the eruption and cannot see any visible sign of the VA. We are under a notam that says VFR operations with piston aircraft should exercise extreme caution.

Controlled airspace is empty at the moment and GA has taken over. The weather here is perfect and the wind has all but disappeared. There are GA aircraft using the ILS at Manchester and Gatwick for practice, the controllers at Birmingham were so pleased to hear from me yesterday that they kept me on frequency for a bit of a chat. Usually these places don't want to bother with GA. Needless to say most GA is staying at around 2000'

So the question is... What concentration of VA is bad for a Commander. We have air filters, which I checked yesterday and are as clean as new, so if there are hundreds of successful GA flights taking place when should we get worried?

Also... Do you think it is an over reaction to ban all commercial traffic at these concentrations, no one seems to have any definitive data.

The last time this volcano erupted it went on for 2 years, this would devastate the economy, not to mention putting a cramp on my flying.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

Are they overreacting? Who knows? I do recall the 4-engine flameout of the British Jet in the 80's. Here is a short description of the possible effects from Wikipedia:

Aviation



Volcanic ash mixed with the ram air can block the aircraft's pitot tube(s) thereby rendering the air speed indicator(s) inoperative.


Eruptions which are charged with gas start to froth and expand as they reach the surface, causing explosive eruptions sending fine ash up into the atmosphere; if it reaches high altitudes—where aeroplanes cruise—the ash can be dispersed around the globe.[17] Volcanic ash damages a plane mainly in four ways:
Sandblasting effectAsh can "blind" pilots by sandblasting the windscreen requiring an instrument landing, damage the fuselage, and coat the plane so much as to add significant weight and change balance. In addition, the sandblasting effect can damage the landing lights, making their beams diffuse and unable to be projected in the forward direction. Propellor aircraft are also endangered.
Clogging of the plane's sensorsAccumulation of ash can also block an aircraft's pitot tubes. This can lead to failure of the aircraft's air speed indicators.
Electromagnetic wave insulationVolcanic ash particles are charged and disturb the communication by radio.[18]

River eroding volcanic ash flow Alaska Southwest, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes


Power failure
Large amounts of air enter the engine during normal operation.



Cooling channels in the turbine blades become clogged by ash leading to overheating of the blades and their catastrophic failure.


Volcanic ash damages machinery. The effect on jet aircraft engines is particularly severe as large amounts of air are sucked in during operation, posing a great danger to aircraft flying near ash clouds. Very fine volcanic ash particles (particularly glass-rich if from an eruption under ice) sucked into a jet engine melt at about 1,100 °C, fusing onto the blades and other parts of the turbine (which operates at about 1,400 °C). They can erode and destroy parts, drive it out-of-balance, and cause jams in rotating machinery.
The effect on the operation of a jet engine is often to cause it to cut out—failure of all a plane's engines is not uncommon. The standard emergency procedure when jet engines begin to fail had been to increase power, which makes the problem worse. The best procedure is to throttle back the engines, and to lose height so as to drop below the ash cloud as quickly as possible. The inrush of cold, clean air is usually enough to cool, solidify, and shatter the glass, unclogging the engines.
OccurrencesThere are many instances of damage to jet aircraft as a result of an ash encounter. After the Galunggung, Indonesia volcanic event in 1982, a British Airways Flight 9 flew through an ash cloud; all four engines cut out. The plane descended from 36,000 feet (11,000 m) to 12,000 feet (3,700 m), where the engines could be restarted.[19]
In April 2010, airspace all over Europe was closed—which was unprecedented—due to the presence of volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull.[20][21]
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

If I remember correctly, the British Airways Flight 9 stands as a record for the longest distance recorded for commercial aircraft not under power (as a glider).

Regarding the original question, the particles carried in an ash cloud are particularly hard, sharp and abrasive having not had the effect of time to erode the edges like the rest of the particulate matter in the world. Therefore the effects on a mechanical engine are greater than, for instance, normal silicates such as fine sand etc. It would be a quick way to bring your engine to out of limit spec and in need of overhaul, even if it did not shut the engine down.

Sorry to hear that the winds are light in Europe. What you really need is stong winds to disperse the concentration and to tumble the particulate out of the atmosphere.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

idcairns said:
Regarding the original question, the particles carried in an ash cloud are particularly hard, sharp and abrasive having not had the effect of time to erode the edges like the rest of the particulate matter in the world. Therefore the effects on a mechanical engine are greater than, for instance, normal silicates such as fine sand etc.
Click to expand...

It would probably make a mess out of a new paint job, too. :D
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

Just an update, Lufthansa and KLM have flown test flights up to FL440 and appear to be about to challenge the legality of the restriction on flying. The concentrations seem very low.

The BA 747 mentioned earlier actually flew through the plume of the eruption.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

I flew on Saturday, just down to Lydd(EGMD) for lunch.
I have never heard ATC being so helpful, it was un-real.
There were some guys flying circuits at Stanstead, Gatwick and London City just for the heck of it.
Unless you have flown in the UK then it may be hard to understand just how unusual all this is.
Just ask Richard Rolland he is probably more familiar than most.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

We need to pay homage to the Vulcano gods. They did a good thing for GA in Europe.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

It was a long time ago, I think about 1978, I was flying right seat in a B-90 and we picked up volcanic ash from Mr.StHelens I think. We flew every day and did not think much about it. At oil change the oil was very red in color. We kept flying and just changed the oil more often, It soon was back to normal. Not sure what this meant, nor do I have an opionion about this.

Barrack just wanted an excuse not to go to the funeral.

Life is a barrel of fun.

Ken Andrew.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

Will clog air filter, pitot, oil cooler etc on planes fast. Jets, will cling to burner cans. And if that isn't enough. The real fun is landing dead stick with the windscreen all frosted over from the sand blast.
It's nothing to play with at all.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

Here it comes America, you should have it on Monday/Tuesday.
 
Re: Flying in Volcanic Ash?

We are expecting to find some damage to the Orbiter windows but won't know the extent for a few days still (just landed this morning and we won't get around to that detail until we're back in the OPF)(hanger). Obviously we didn't fly through the cloud but there is enough scattered material in thye atmosphere that we expect to have to replace some windows. Of course we're going a little faster and we strive for optical clarity but the bottom line is this is nasty stuff. I'd give it as wide a berth as possible. Doug
 
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