Posted on 04/16/2010 11:57:21 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Volcanic ash consists of tiny fragments of glass which melt at the operating temperature of jet engines. Skip related content Related photos / videos Volcanic ash may damage jet engines Enlarge photo .Sucked into the turbines, they clog up the engines and can shut them down, with potentially disastrous consequences.
Hard ash particles can also damage an engine's fan blades, and may cause electrical systems to short-circuit.
The sudden loss of power can cause a large passenger aircraft to go into freefall. At the same time the pilot is likely to be flying "blind" because of scratches left on the cockpit windscreen by the abrasive ash.
Expert Dr David Rothery, from the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the Open University, said: "This is not a dense cloud, and is unlikely to be noticed by people on the ground, though we may have a spectacularly red sunset this evening.
"However, air traffic restrictions have very properly been applied, resulting in closure of airports and airspace. This is because if volcanic ash particles are ingested into a jet engine, they accumulate and clog the engines with molten glass.
"In 1982 British Airways and Singapore Airways jumbo jets lost all their engines when they flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia, and 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."
As a result of these experiences emergency procedure manuals for pilots were changed, said Dr Rothery.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.news.yahoo.com ...
If its clogging jet engines, just imagine what its doing to your lungs.
Two things - the ash (at least for now) stays mostly at altitude and secondly lungs (at least not my lungs) don’t operate at thousand degrees Celsius.
“for now”-is the operative word
Ash like this also frequently falls in Alaska. It is not highly dangerous to animals or people. Dragons might be in trouble.
Its still not wise if you have a breathing condition to be around it.
Here in Washington, we have ash shields for our computers at work in case Mt St Helens, any of the five volcanoes we have decide to go. The ash really is nast stuff.
That would make a great zot thread photo.
& crops & water.
You mean powdered rock isn’t good to put into a turbofan? Thank you for informing me of that, Mr. Scientist.
WILL
If the past is any guide, this eruption will last some time, maybe 6 months or more. Eventually it will be very costly and disruptive to our logistics in landlocked Afghanistan, which is very dependent upon air freight.
Volcanic ash “DOES” damage jet engines
There it is fixed!
There may be need to reexamine the Polish Presidents aircraft?
Do we need a world wide Ash Alert?
Why read such ignorance?
ML/NJ
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