Procedures if Mt St Helens blows

[WHBM]

Was anyone around last time Mt St Helens went up ? What sort of exclusion zone was set round it, and for how long ? Is one in place at the moment ? Any special procedures needed for dealing with the ash ?

I recall it gave all sorts of troubles with ground equipment as well last time for weeks afterwards, any air conditioner or engine needed filters changing daily. I think the two well known incidents of ash causing complete in-flight shutdowns, the BA one over Indonesia and the one over Alaska have happened since then so presume some things have been learned.

[PaperTiger]

Portland (KPDX) was closed during the 1980 eruption. This one is not expected to be as big but closure is still a possibility.

There is a current TFR: http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr/jsp/save_pages/detail_4_0599.html

[brakedwell]

I seem to remember Boeing having problems with volcanic dust contamination at their spare parts operation.

[jabird]

WHBM,

Wasn't ANU closed at times when the Montserrat volcano erupted? Presumably, Mount St Helens won't destroy any runways?

[dudduddud]

Pinatubo, Philippines.
ba 747 4 engine flameout

Managed to get them started again before :sad:

[ironbutt57]

Do like I did in 1980..........run like hell!!!!!!!!!!!!:}

[Bellerophon]

dudduddud

I think you mean:

Mt Galunggung, West Java.

BA 009 KUL-PER 24 June 1982

B747-200 G-BDXH

Regards

Bellerophon

[lomapaseo]

Was anyone around last time Mt St Helens went up ? What sort of exclusion zone was set round it, and for how long ? Is one in place at the moment ? Any special procedures needed for dealing with the ash ?

Lots has change since then. We've had a couple of world wide conferences to ensure that things like ATC communications, NOAA , and Flight Crew Operating Manuals for the product have been updated.

If you follow the instructions your risk is low. Do not assume that the ash is confined to the nearby locations arround the volcano. In fact there may be some perfectly clear areas near active volcanos and deadly areas hundreds of miles away. This is why we need satelite imagry and intelligent ATC and understanding pilots

. Alaska Airlines has lots of experience in flying near active volcanos without a problem.

My mesage is, if you don't know than your shouldn't go anywhere within 500 miles of an active volcano Wait for informative info first.

[No_Speed_Restriction]

Sources say that a large shipment of asbestos underpants is on its way.:E

[Capt H Peacock]

1. Check Heading
2. Add 180 degrees
3. Turn onto new heading
4. Advance thrust levers

[simfly]

5. AND PRAY!!!! :eek:

[Gin Slinger]

It sounds like a line from the Boeing windshear video might be appropriate: -

".....Gee Bill [in a very deep southern droll]....I don't like the look of this one......let's get the hell outda here!"

[flyburg]

Quote:
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Procedures for when Mount Helen blows
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Put paints on knees, sit back and enjoy!!!:ok:

[av8boy]

Was anyone around last time Mt St Helens went up ?
Yup. Went right over the top of it the day after the 1980 eruption. All I can tell you is that at 370 we didn't seem to have any problem at all and I got some great photos.

Although it was pretty nasty down low...

I was telling someone about this yesterday, and she said, "I remember the eruption. I lived in Salem, Oregon at the time and we could see it. I was 11 years old and in fifth grade.

I'm old. :(

Dave

[kala87]

av8boy:

You were braver than I would be, overflying the beast at FL370. I recall that St.Helens unleashed at least one plinian plume (high velocity explosive eruption) later in 1980, some months after the main cataclysm, which reached the stratosphere as this kind of eruption generally does, rather like a giant blowtorch.

The problem with explosive volcanoes is their unpredictability. Scientists can usually tell from the monitoring equipment (seismometers, tiltmeters, gas monitoring etc) if a volcano is heating up and an explosive eruption is likely, but the exact timing is a virtual impossibility. The present situation of St.Helens is a good example. There is obviously magma near the surface, but a major explosive eruption could happen today, next week, or next month, or not at all. The 1980 eruption was accompanied by an initial shock wave travelling at supersonic speed. If it had been directed vertically, instead of laterally, and you or I happened to be flying over the top at the time, I think it would have caused more than a little elevator flutter! So, you don't just need volcanic ash to do you and your aircraft a lot of harm.

And yet, St,Helens was a puny eruption compared to some of the great eruptions of the past. If another eruption happened on the scale of Toba, Indonesia (70,000 yrs ago), it would shut down the entire aviation industry over large parts of the globe (not to mention air forces) for months, if not years, due to the huge amounts of ash and sulphuric acid contamination of the atmosphere. But then we would probably all starve from crop failures anyway. (I used to be a geophysicist in a previous life, and have worked on live volcanoes, so apologies for the digression!)

[av8boy]

kala87... Although I'm certain you speak the truth, and although I'd certainly be a lot more cautious now, I was, at the time, young and indestructable. Thankfully, aviation (as well as Volcanus/Pele, etc) spared my life long enough for me to pick up some better habits!

Dave

i.e. from the 1980 flightdeck... "they'd never have routed us this way if it wasn't safe! For crying out loud, stop worrying..."