Dangers of Volcanic Ash Clouds
Volcanic
Ash clouds are a serious hazard to aircraft. These clouds can climb above
33000ft and drift many miles from the volcano. The famous incident at Jakarta years ago with A BA
jumbo jet comes to mind. The aircraft flew into a volcanic ash cloud at night. All four
engines flamed out the aircraft glided down from a high cruise flight level to
FL120 before they could get them restarted. The aircraft made an emergency landing in Jakarta. The windscreen
was badly pitted and the pilots could not see out except for a small crack on
the Co pilot's side. The co pilot directed the captain on finals looking through
the crack. Yes you guessed it the ILS was not working. On landing they had to be
pulled by tug to the stand as they could not see to taxi. On inspecting the damage
the paint was also missing on the outside. An amazing bit of Airmanship which
won the crew high praise and many awards.
What a Volcanic Ash Warning For Mt Etna looks like
Document: 6880 | Created: 09:56 11/06/2002 UTC | Description: Ash Cloud Forecast | Toulouse VAAC ________________________________________________________________________________ FVEU01 LFPW 060402 VOLCANIC ASH ADVISORY ISSUED: 06NOV2002/0400UTC VAAC: TOULOUSE VOLCANO: ETNA 0101-06 LOCATION: N3744E01500 AREA: ITALY SUMMIT ELEVATION: 3350M ADVISORY NUMBER: 2002/43 INFORMATION SOURCE: SATELLITE IMAGERY AND WEBCAM AT CATANIA AVIATION COLOUR CODE: NIL ERUPTION DETAILS: ASH EMISSION SINCE 27TH OCTOBER 2002 0200 UTC. CONTINUOUS PLUME UP TO FL180 OBS ASH DATE/TIME: 05NOV2002/1900 UTC (ON IR IMAGES) OBS ASH CLOUD: DUE TO CLOUDS COVERING THE AREA, ASH CLOUD CANNOT BE SEEN ANY MORE ON SATELLITE IMAGERY, BUT ACCORDING TO LATEST INFORMATIONS, ASH EMISSION IS STILL CONTINUOUS. FSCT ASH CLOUD+6H: ACCORDING TO SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS FORCASTED IN THE AREA , BLOWING UP TO 25-35KT BELOW FL180, ASH CLOUD WILL BE DRIFTED NORTHEASTWARD. A DENSE ASH PLUME SHOULD EXTEND THAT WAY ABOUT 120 TO 150 NM FROM SUMMIT WITHIN NEXT 6 HOURS. FSCT ASH CLOUD+12H: FSCT ASH CLOUD+18H: NEXT ADVISORY: WILL BE ISSUED THE 6TH NOVEMBER 2002 AT ABOUT 1000 UTC. REMARKS: PLEASE REFER TO SIGMETS FOR CURRENT WARNINGS= FVEU01 LFPW 060951 VOLCANIC ASH ADVISORY ISSUED: 06NOV2002/1000UTC VAAC: TOULOUSE VOLCANO: ETNA 0101-06 LOCATION: N3744E01500 AREA: ITALY SUMMIT ELEVATION: 3350M ADVISORY NUMBER: 2002/44 Document: 6880 | Created: 09:56 11/06/2002 UTC | Help#:1-877-280-2811 | Page: 02 Description: Ash Cloud Forecast | Toulouse VAAC ________________________________________________________________________________ INFORMATION SOURCE: SATELLITE IMAGERY AND CATANIA WEBCAM AVIATION COLOUR CODE: NIL ERUPTION DETAILS: ASH EMISSION SINCE 27TH OCTOBER 2002 0200 UTC. CONTINUOUS PLUME UP TO FL180 OBS ASH DATE/TIME: 06NOV2002/0800 UTC (ON WEBCAM) OBS ASH CLOUD: DUE TO CLOUDS COVERING THE AREA, ASH CLOUD CANNOT BE SEEN ON SATELLITE IMAGERY, BUT THE WEBCAM SHOWS CONTINOUS ASH EMISSION, DRIFTED NORTHEASTWARD. FSCT ASH CLOUD+6H: ACCORDING TO SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS FORECASTED IN THE AREA , BLOWING UP TO 25-35KT BETWEEN FL120 FL180, ASH CLOUD WILL BE DRIFTED NORTHEASTWARD. A DENSE ASH PLUME SHOULD EXTEND THAT WAY ABOUT 120 TO 150 NM FROM SUMMIT WITHIN NEXT 6 HOURS. BELOW FL120, WINDS FORECASTED IN THE AREA ARE MAINLY WESTERLY 10KT SO DIFFUSE ASH IS EXPECTED BELOW FL120 BETWEEN 15E AND 20E AND BETWEEN 37N AND 42N. FSCT ASH CLOUD+12H: FSCT ASH CLOUD+18H: NEXT ADVISORY: WILL BE ISSUED THE 6TH NOVEMBER 2002 AT ABOUT 1600 UTC. REMARKS: PLEASE REFER TO SIGMETS FOR CURRENT WARNINGS=