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Old 18th Apr 2010, 07:33
  #842 (permalink)  
Stoic
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: England
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NASA ash cloud visible or invisible

Profit Max #770

Incorrect. The cloud the NASA plane flew through was entirely unnoticeable, 200 miles North of the predicted ash cloud, and only picked up because they were a atmospheric research plane that had sensitive equipment onboard. They also only flew through the ash for 5 or 10 minutes.
From the top of page 11 of the NASA incident report:


The flight crew noted no change in cockpit readings, no St. Elmo’s fire, no odor or smoke, and no
change in engine instruments. They did notice that no stars were visible, but this is typical of flight
through high cirrus clouds.
After seven minutes the crew noticed that the stars had reappeared, and at about this time the
scientists reported that the research instrument readings had returned to normal
Sounds like NASA's encounter was with a visible ash cloud.

Regards

S
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