SINGAPORE: Lots of of travellers have been stranded or had their Bali holidays cancelled when airlines on Wednesday (Nov 13) halted flights after a nearby volcano erupted, spewing a 9km ash tower into the sky.
The subsequent morning, nevertheless, a number of airways have been fast to resume flights to the Indonesian vacation vacation spot, with some carriers noting “improved” circumstances.
What does volcanic ash do to an airplane?
Volcanic ash incorporates high quality ash and sharp glass-like particles. When that enters a jet engine, it might probably result in extreme harm and probably trigger the engine to malfunction.
Jet engines attract air, compress it, combine it with gas and ignite it. This course of generates high-pressure exhaust gases that propel the engine and the plane ahead.
To perform correctly, engines depend on a exact steadiness of gas and airflow. Disrupting this airflow, as volcanic ash does, can create issues.
Aviation security advisor Michael Daniel advised CNA that within the worst-case state of affairs, the abrasiveness of volcanic ash on the engine blades could cause an engine “flame-out”, or shutdown.
And sure, there have been situations the place engines flamed out as a consequence of flying by way of volcanic ash clouds, he added.
Flame-outs can then result in lack of thrust and propulsion and altitude drops amongst others.
Moreover, the excessive temperatures contained in the engine additionally soften the volcanic glass within the ash, inflicting it to stay to and clog engine elements, in accordance with the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
The Worldwide Civil Aviation Group (ICAO) in the meantime wrote in a publication how volcanic ash can block aircraft sensors, leading to unreliable airspeed indications and inaccurate warnings.
Ash may render windscreens partially or utterly opaque – an instantaneous visibility hazard – and even contaminate cabin air.
