Dodging Ash Clouds

The first instance of volcanic ash paralyzing a modern commercial jet was in 1982. Captain Eric Moody was strolling through the cabin of British Airways Flight 9 as the plane soared over the waters southwest of Java when he was called to the flight deck. Opening the door to the cockpit, Moody was met with "puffs of smoke" and a blast of "St. Elmo's fire" according to a 2010 BBC interview with the retired pilot. Volcanic ash had stopped all four of the plane's engines, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing in Jakarta.

This incident alerted the aviation industry to the perils of volcanic ash, and since then airlines have diverted and grounded flights to avoid the plumes sent up by volcanic eruptions. This recommendation cost Garuda airlines nearly half a million dollars in ticket sales in 2010 after Central Java's Mount Merapi erupted, according to a paper published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. The report was presented last week at the Eighth 'Cities on Volcanoes' Conference held at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, where volcanologists from around the world gathered to discuss their latest research.