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Why airlines can’t fly through clouds of ash
David Rothery, a senior lecturer in earth sciences at the Open University, said flight restrictions due to the plume of volcanic ash in the atmosphere over northern Europe were an essential safety precaution.
"This is because if volcanic ash particles are ingested into a jet engine, they accumulate and clog the engines with molten glass," he said.
In 1982, British Airways and Singapore Airways jumbo jets lost their engine power when they flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia, while a KLM flight had a similar experience in 1989 over Alaska.
"On each occasion, the plane fell to within a few thousand feet of the ground before it was possible to restart the engines,” Rothery said.
The Icelandic ash cloud is now drifting with high winds at altitudes where aircraft fly.
Stewart John, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and former president of the Royal Aeronautical Society, explained that the ash could cause severe damage.
"This dust really is nasty stuff," he told BBC News.
"It’s extremely fine and if it gets into a jet engine, it blocks up all of the ventilation holes that bleed in cooling air.
"Jet engines operate at about 2,000C, and the metals can’t take that. The engine will just shut down."
In the case of the 1982 British Airways flight, he explained, when the plane emerged from the cloud, the pilot repeatedly tried and failed to restart the engines.
They were going down and down, and had just about accepted that they would have to ditch.
"But, at the last minute, one engine started. By repeatedly turning the engine over and having a clean airflow going through, he managed to blow the ash out."
John conclude, "We do not know how long this will last.
"It’s like a typhoon – because you can’t fly through it, you can’t directly monitor it, so we have rely on satellite images and to err on the side of extreme caution."
Phil Davies
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