It’s all fun and games until someone crashes. I don’t blame the Europeans. Yeah, I think they’re moderately overreacting, but airplane crashes are generally not “minor” events.
gahrie
And there are cases of planes crashing because their engines were destroyed by atmospheric ash.
Joe Loy
The linked blogger states [emphases added],
Here’s another large report from Britain, featuring commentary on travel disruption. It also has the usual share of embarrassments, such as the headline reference to “molten ash.” There’s no such thing as “molten ash.” Indeed ash cannot be molten, since the fragments must cool enough to be solid before clouds of tephra fly away.
KYRA PHILLIPS: All right. So, your expertise here, explain the dangers of flying through a plume of ash or flying in this type of environment? What exactly does it do to the engines? Kind of give me the technical explanation if you will.
MARY SCHIAVO: Sure. Ash that’s put out in the air contains the same components or particles that goes into glass-making. And jet engines operate at about 1400 degrees, and if the ash is under that temperature and it enters the jet engine, it literally becomes molten and can coat the engine and the heart of the engine with a glasslike substance. And what that does is shut the engines down.
If the pilots recognize this in time or get warnings and there are many telltale signs, it can look just like a cloud, but there is a particular odor and taste. There is something like St. Elmo’s fire. It’s called the firefly effect. You get these little sparkly lights that you’re entering a volcanic ash plume area. And above 25,000 feet is your biggest danger. If you can do a 180, completely turn around, decline, descend and get out of it, then there won’t be damage. Otherwise, you literally can coat your engines in a glasslike molten substance and you’ll lose your engines.
Assuming Schiavo knows whereof she speaks, seems to me that Sullivan’s “continent of dithering ninnies” is merely being Prudent. / And yeah: what James Young & gahrie Said. / Me, in principle I’d love to go up & see the St. Elmo’s-like Little Sparkly Lights show but only if the odds Against it being the Last sight I’ll Ever see are very, very, very high. :>
Alec
Great comment Joe.
As Gahrie says, volcanic ash and jet engines have been shown not to mix all that well. See here, for example.
Joe Loy
Thankyou, Alec. :}
Alasdair
Such a Smart Alec !
For those interested, Alec’s link leads to other interesting articles on what flying through volcanic ash clouds can do to aircraft … it does have to rank up there with the more powerful laxatives available to Mankind …
It’s all fun and games until someone crashes. I don’t blame the Europeans. Yeah, I think they’re moderately overreacting, but airplane crashes are generally not “minor” events.
And there are cases of planes crashing because their engines were destroyed by atmospheric ash.
The linked blogger states [emphases added],
Well that’s as may be; but my inference from the remarks on CNN of the former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo, is that there’s No Such Thing as molten ash until the cool tephra is sucked into the hot guts of a jet engine — and THEN… [again, emphases added] ~~
Assuming Schiavo knows whereof she speaks, seems to me that Sullivan’s “continent of dithering ninnies” is merely being Prudent. / And yeah: what James Young & gahrie Said. / Me, in principle I’d love to go up & see the St. Elmo’s-like Little Sparkly Lights show but only if the odds Against it being the Last sight I’ll Ever see are very, very, very high. :>
Great comment Joe.
As Gahrie says, volcanic ash and jet engines have been shown not to mix all that well. See here, for example.
Thankyou, Alec. :}
Such a Smart Alec !
For those interested, Alec’s link leads to other interesting articles on what flying through volcanic ash clouds can do to aircraft … it does have to rank up there with the more powerful laxatives available to Mankind …