Volcanic Ash
Hello,
for porbably the first time in my aviation career I feel very uneasy about making go/no-go decisions, regarding the VA.
Background: I fly a little cooperate jet (Citation Sovereign) and we are just 2 pilots, no overhead.
I supplied my superiors with the info I could gather in April, one of which was the maintenance manual stating that the engines would need a HSI after VA encounter. There is NO method of how detect VA encounter mentioned, neither in the engine MM, nor the AFM/OM (clearly, abrasions etc would be a sign). Now as the maps provided are IMO sadly inadequate and the engine/airframe manufactureres have diverted from their zero ash to 2mG ash concentration, Iīd like to know how to decide. I donīt want the blame if during boroscopic inspection VA is discovered with the ensueing cost and downtime. (which is considerable with a contracted mx and no spare engines owned)
A real catch 22 methinks. What are your views? Do the airlines just gamble on their engines life?
Thanks for the input.