Today, flights all over northern Britain have been grounded because of volcanic ash from Iceland. Quite a coincidence to have these northerly winds at the same time as a volcano erupts. Look out for bright sunsets.
Many years ago a BA flight over Malaysia flew into a volcanic cloud, all four engines went out and the windscreen was sandblasted. A great story if you can find the full transcript. After gliding out of the ash the pilot managed to restart the engines but couldn’t see out of the windscreen. He landed successfully to much acclaim.
You might think the aircraft could fly lower or higher where there is less ash. Aircraft fly into desert airports with sand blowing about. Is this an over-reaction and total risk aversion. A bit of a surprise to wake up with this announcement when nothing had been publicly threatened as late as 11pm last night and the volcano has been erupting for some time. Also not a lot of news about how long this might continue and what flight alternatives are being offered people. Overall seems to be being covered more like a show than a major disruption. Few questions are being asked about whether it’s an over-reaction and why was there no notice.