What happens when an aircraft flies through a volcanic ash cloud 🌋✈️

Volcanic ash and aircraft don’t mix very well!

The engines are particularly susceptible to ash as a result of the high temperatures inside of the engine.

Volcanic ash has a high glassy silicate content, which has a lower melting point than the temperatures typically found inside jet engines.

This means that when the ash is super heated inside the engine, the glassy silicate can begin to melt and adhere to the turbine blades and various other parts of the engine.

As this flows back to the cooler parts of the engine, it begins to solidify and create a buildup of deposits.

This buildup will significantly disrupt the airflow through the engine and can result in a number of malfunctions, such as:

High Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT)
No response to thrust lever movement
Engine surge or stall
Engine failure.

Once the crew are aware of the ash, the standard procedure is to fly a descending turn away from the ash cloud.

By reducing thrust, we reduce the ash ingestion and temperature inside the engine, and thereby reduce the potential buildup and damage inside the engine.

By turning 180 degrees away from the cloud, we will exit the ash as quickly as possible.

Once clear of the ash, we can assess the damage and make a plan based on that assessment.

The likelihood of inadvertently flying into an ash cloud is incredibly low, thanks to wealth of information that are provided to the pilots, both before and during the flight.

These include Ashtams, which provide information on the status of activity of a volcano when a change in its activity is, or is expected to be of operational significance.

Significant weather charts also highlight areas of possible ash cloud concentrations.

When ATC are alerted to an eruption in the area, all flights will be diverted around the ash cloud area.

But should the worst happen, and a crew find themselves in an ash cloud, they will be well trained to recognise the early symptoms and escape the cloud before any serious damage occurs.

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