Successful high-altitude testing for volcanic ash-detection technology

With the threat of volcanic eruption to commercial airspace as real as ever, the industry has been testing new methods to stay safe and avoid disruption for business and passengers. easyJet and Nicarnica Aviation have entered a partnership with the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus to test the Avoid (Airborne Volcanic Object Imaging Detector) ash-detection equipment on their A340-300 test aircraft at the speed and altitude of commercial aircraft. The first phase of testing took place in July and initial test flights at altitudes of up to 40,000 feet (about 12,200 metres) were successful. The tests included mounting equipment externally on the aircraft fuselage, with recording equipment and real-time monitors placed inside the cabin allowing viewing of the sky ahead. Test flights have been performed near the Airbus home base at Toulouse, France, to first assess the sensor’s physical behaviour when mounted on the aircraft and exposed to flight environment and then the performance of the detection system without the presence of volcanic ash. Plans also included tests in any volcanic activity at Stromboli or Etna with aircraft flown to Italy to test the equipment at commercial jet flight altitudes and speeds. Test aircraft were also flying over the Atlantic Ocean west of Morocco to prove the equipment can detect the fine particles of sand at altitudes of up to 20,000 feet and a distance of up to 50km, using the Saharan air layer as a proxy for volcanic ash. In the event of a volcanic eruption, Avoid gives vital, real-time information on the amounts of ash in the atmosphere. For UK airspace, when incorporated into the safe fly protocols now agreed by the industry and overseen by the Civil Aviation Authority and other ash-measurement data and prediction models operated by theÊMeteorological Office, this could enable aircraft to fly safely to […]