Synopsis
24th June 1982, British airways flight 009 en route from Heathrow London to Auckland New Zealand, lost power to all four engines while flying over the Indian Ocean. A cloud of volcanic ash was blown into the flight path of the aircraft, choking all four engines and hence causing engine failure. The ash cloud was the result of volcanic activity from Mount Gulunggung volcano that had erupted earlier that day. Passengers could see from their windows that their plane was shrouded in white light and the engines were on fire. Not long later, the cabin was filled with thick sulphuric smoke that nearly caused passengers to die of oxygen starvation.
In order to prevent passengers from dying from oxygen starvation, Captain Moody drove the Boeing 747-236B into a nosedive, dropping 6,000ft in one minute, to an altitude to fill the cabin with enough oxygen. Unexpectedly, three out of four engines started running after the dropped in altitude. The windshield glass had been damaged and landing equipment on the ground that could be of help was not working. However, the flight crew managed to land the aircraft manually with a perfect landing. Not until after the successful landing of the aircraft in Jakarta, did what had happened to the four engines become apparent to the pilots. The ash had done considerable damage to the aircraft, which required a new windshield and three new engines.
The reason the engines failed was due to the ash cloud, the dry ash melted in the combustion chamber of the engine and stuck to the inside of the power-plant, making it impossible for the engine to operate. The engines did restart after gliding out of the ash cloud due to the power supply form the on-board batteries and one generator still working. Signs of volcanic cloud did not show up on the radar as the fine ground particles in the volcanic cloud could not be detected.
According to Tom Casadevall, director of the U.S Geological Survey : Signs and identification of volcanic ash like the odour of sulphur in the cabin and frictional electrification on the aircraft's leading edges are incorporated into pilot flight training worldwide.
Part 1 of 5.
| (Video embedded from YouTube on 26 September 2009 —see Cineflix, undated |
Part 2 of 5.
| (Video embedded from YouTube on 26 September 2009 —see Cineflix, undated |
Part 3 of 5
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| (Video embedded from _ YouTube on 26 September 2009 —see Cineflix, undated |
Part 4 of 5.
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| (Video embedded from YouTube on 26 September 2009 —see Cineflix, undated |
Part 5 of 5.
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| (Video embedded from YouTube on 26 September 2009 —see Cineflix, undated |
References.
- Cineflix
- CINEFLIX (undated). British Airways Flight 009. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 retrieved from YouTube on 27 August 2009.
Cineflix All Engines Failed.ACI, parts 1,2,3,4,5. (Undated). Received for Youtube on the 26, September, 2009.
WikipediaBritish Airways Flight 9 Undated. Received 26 September, 2009.
MailOnlineThe story of BA flight 009 and the words every passenger dreads. By Zoe Brennan. Retrieved from MailOnline on 12 September 2012.
Want to know more?
- Wikipedia
- For more information about British Airways Flight 9.
