Volcanic Ash Gives Jet Engine a Turbocharge

first of all it is not LITTLE DUST.

I would also be interested in discussing this topic.

I am not an authority nor do I profess so. If frequent flying makes me an expert in aviation like a guy driving a car too much can call himself a Mechanic.

We Engineers all over the world would be curious to know the details----etc etc.

What causes it and how planes of the future can take care of such problems if they ever arose again. Heard that some Test flights were conducted afterwards and the results were negative. But it is better to save human lives if that could be done. Delay is definitely preferable to ERROR(that would have been casualties in the air)

I would also be curious to know how they determined that Volcanic ash clouds were there at that altitude and they would interfere with the Normal flights. Also how reliable tests would be to determine that now it is safe.

It boggles me to even imagine how all of them came to know of this problem. It is really commendable that they all coordinated on this problem and grounded all flights thus saving loss of precious lives.

Thakral

The cited article is very informative, with pictures.

A colleague who lived in Anchorage, Alaska told me that during an eruption there, car and truck owners went through engine air filters very rapidly, like one per day. Discovery Channel produced a movie serial a few years ago imagining what would happen if the Yellowstone National Park caldera lit up. Volcanic ash can kill you in corrosive ways unless you breathe through a mask. I wonder if it's like breathing a steady supply of beach sand kicked up in the wind.

The "turbocharging" effect stated in the article is intriguing. Something tells me that a jet engine technology that uses the melted glass phenomenon to overall advantage is possible. I think it would be of limited real-world usefulness, unless one were to design a vehicle specifically for flying in ash clouds. That would likely make vulcanologists happy.