When European airspace shut down in April 2010, the aviation industry largely just accepted it because standard procedures told us that is what happens when a volcano erupts and spits ash into the air. Planes can't fly through ash. Of course!

But, like most Standard Operating Procedures in the airline industry, there was an incident that occured that showed us why we need that procedure in place.

Well, back in 1982, British Airways Flight 9 from Kuala Lumpur to Perth got caught out when the Mount Galunggung volcano in Indonesia erupted, spewing ash into the air. But no one had experienced the effects of volcanic ash in jet engines - and we learnt pretty swiftly that it was not good. 

All four engines stopped, effectively turning the Boeing 747 into a glider. Thankfully, the pilots and engineers skills, training and persistence in the face of danger meant that once the aircraft had descended to 12,000ft they were able to restart the engines and land with 3 working ones. After a few days of investgation it was determined that the the tips of the turbine blades had been ground away by the volcanic ash, that had clogged the engines at 37,000ft and had only restarted when enough of the molten ash solidified and broke off at the lower level.

In today's episode of The Red Eye podcast, we tell this story from the point of view of the pilots, crew and passengers, in this 30 minute audiobook style story, based on the true events of the Original Ash Cloud incident.

Music Credits for The Original Ash Cloud

Yacoby – Schwartzy

I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor - Chris Zabriskie 

Sound Effect by Derrick McKinnon from Pixabay

Sound Effects by

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The Red Eye Podcast is written by Kaylie Kay, and produced and narrated by Ally Murphy.

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Ally Murphy is a former flight attendant, and a British voice over artist based in the USA, visit www.allymurphy.co.uk

Kaylie Kay is a flight attendant and author based in the UK. You can find more of her work at www.kayliekaywrites.com

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