Air safety shock: Hundreds of
planes 'nearly downed' by volcanic ash
MILLIONS of air passengers have been at risk of death as planes fly through potentially deadly volcanic ash clouds - but experts STILL don't fully understand the risks, it was admitted today.
Five years after the Icelandic volcanic ash mayhem of 2010 grounded hundreds of planes after the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the first real tests on the impact of engine contamination have only just been carried out and the results are not even out yet.
NASA today revealed it has been left to investigate the safety risk to passengers of ash clouds instead of the industry.
Just weeks ago it carried out the first ever tests of passing volcanic dust through and aircraft engine, but a report on the devastating effect on the engine, which can be ground to a halt, are not expected to be out until 2016.
The US space agency also revealed that 80 planes were potentially brought down by volcanic ash BEFORE the 2010 chaos.
A NASA spokesman said: "According to the US Geological Survey more than 80 commercial aircraft encountered potentially hazardous volcanic ash in flight and at airports from 1993 to 2008.
A volcanic ash distribution spider in the inlet of the engine while running, was used to send the ultra-fine particles of ash through the engine.NASA
"That was before the big 2010 volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland which disrupted hundreds of flight in Europe and the lives of about 10 million airline passengers over six days."
The 2010 volcanic eruption came at the same time that NASA was looking at developing engine health management systems and smart sensors for next generation commercial aircraft engines.
Paul Krasa, VIPR project manager, based at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, said although the need fore safety tests was recognised in 2010, it has taken five years for the first meaningful one to be carried out.
He said: "Because of the impact of the volcano in Iceland there was also an increased interest in the aviation community in better understanding the effects of volcanic ash in engines."
Hundreds of planes were grounded due to Icelandic volcanic ash in 2010
According to the US Geological Survey more than 80 commercial aircraft encountered potentially hazardous volcanic ash in flight and at airports from 1993 to 2008.
MILLIONS of air passengers have been at risk of death as planes fly through potentially deadly volcanic ash clouds - but experts STILL don't fully understand the risks, it was admitted today.
Five years after the Icelandic volcanic ash mayhem of 2010 grounded hundreds of planes after the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the first real tests on the impact of engine contamination have only just been carried out and the results are not even out yet.
NASA today revealed it has been left to investigate the safety risk to passengers of ash clouds instead of the industry.
Just weeks ago it carried out the first ever tests of passing volcanic dust through and aircraft engine, but a report on the devastating effect on the engine, which can be ground to a halt, are not expected to be out until 2016.
The US space agency also revealed that 80 planes were potentially brought down by volcanic ash BEFORE the 2010 chaos.
A NASA spokesman said: "According to the US Geological Survey more than 80 commercial aircraft encountered potentially hazardous volcanic ash in flight and at airports from 1993 to 2008.
A volcanic ash distribution spider in the inlet of the engine while running, was used to send the ultra-fine particles of ash through the engine.NASA
"That was before the big 2010 volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland which disrupted hundreds of flight in Europe and the lives of about 10 million airline passengers over six days."
The 2010 volcanic eruption came at the same time that NASA was looking at developing engine health management systems and smart sensors for next generation commercial aircraft engines.
Paul Krasa, VIPR project manager, based at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, said although the need fore safety tests was recognised in 2010, it has taken five years for the first meaningful one to be carried out.
He said: "Because of the impact of the volcano in Iceland there was also an increased interest in the aviation community in better understanding the effects of volcanic ash in engines."
Hundreds of planes were grounded due to Icelandic volcanic ash in 2010
According to the US Geological Survey more than 80 commercial aircraft encountered potentially hazardous volcanic ash in flight and at airports from 1993 to 2008.
NASA
He said: "NASA partnered with other Government agencies and industry groups, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce Liberty Works, General Electric Aviation and Boeing Research & Technology, to conduct the series of VIPR engine tests - ending with the one in 2015 (July) that actually simulated volcanic ash ingestion."
"We don't know of anybody who has ever attempted to introduce volcanic ash directly into the engine core on the wing of the airplane in a controlled way.
"We needed to do that because we really needed to understand the full system effect."
The Air Force provided the plane, a C-17 cargo transport, and two F117 engines that had been slated for retirement, but were overhauled to like new before the test.
The F117 engine is a military version of a commercial Pratt & Whitney engine that is used on the Boeing 757.
A first VIPR test on the engine, heavily instrumented with sensors, happened in 2011 at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center/Edwards Air Force Base in California, but it only established engine and sensor performance baselines.
Volcanic ash cloud: Chaos of last eruption
Tue, August 19, 2014
Some of the best pictures of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud last time it erupted in 2010 and what we could be in for if the volcano erupts again
The Icelandic volcano created a huge ash cloud which covered much of Europe [AP]
The second test, in early 2013, used
cereal and crayons, material that wouldn't harm the engines, to verify that the
sensors could detect tiny bits of debris and that test only established the
sensitivity of the sensors.
Both were only the building blocks for the real-world scenario - the introduction of introducing volcanic ash, which can and does tear up an engine.
Researchers introduced simulated volcanic ash into the engines at low and high flow rates.
John Lekki, NASA Vehicle Integrated Propulsion Research (VIPR) Principal Investigator, based at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio said: "We used real ash that was broken up from a pumice deposit.
"The volcanic ash used that was from the Mt Mazama eruption, which took place around 5700 BC."
A NASA spokesman said: "The team will study the data and then publish results once the group can make solid scientific conclusions on just how volcanic ash can affect an airplane engine.
Results are expected to be publicly released in summer, 2016."
Both were only the building blocks for the real-world scenario - the introduction of introducing volcanic ash, which can and does tear up an engine.
Researchers introduced simulated volcanic ash into the engines at low and high flow rates.
John Lekki, NASA Vehicle Integrated Propulsion Research (VIPR) Principal Investigator, based at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio said: "We used real ash that was broken up from a pumice deposit.
"The volcanic ash used that was from the Mt Mazama eruption, which took place around 5700 BC."
A NASA spokesman said: "The team will study the data and then publish results once the group can make solid scientific conclusions on just how volcanic ash can affect an airplane engine.
Results are expected to be publicly released in summer, 2016."
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