PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - How to stay safe or how to see and avoid ash clouds?!. (spotter post)
Old 20th Apr 2010, 08:57
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Basil
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: UK.
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Some years ago KAL came up with an answer to light volcanic dust detection.
They trained some dogs by letting them smell small concentrations of volcanic dust and simultaneously giving them a biscuit.
After a short training period, every time the dog smelt the least trace of volcanic dust, it would salivate and its tail would wag.
Trained dogs were then placed on all flights planned to fly anywhere downwind of volcanoes. Initially the Pavlovian reaction was a great success.

There was however, an unfortunate misunderstanding: No one told the SCCMs of the plan and they, quite reasonably, assumed that the dogs were part of the FD in-flight catering so cooked them and fed them to the pilots, after keeping some of the better bits for themselves.

A nationwide search located no more dogs for training and the plan was abandoned.
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