New device may allow planes to fly in ash cloud conditions

By Bianca Ffolkes

An in-flight device that can detect ash clouds is being tested by low-fare airline easyJet and is scheduled to arrive next summer if trials are successful.

The system, known as AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Imaging Detector), makes it possible for a pilot to see an ash cloud ahead at altitudes of 5,000 to 50,000ft

Developed by Dr Fred Prata of the Norwegian Institute For Air Research and funded by easyJet, AVOID is a small orange machine that checks the position and measure the density of ash clouds using an infra-red camera and satellite data.

Dr Prata told the Guardian: "It has two cameras that have been tuned to see the signature of silicates, which are the components that make up volcanic ash.

"They're able to see silicates up to 100km – maybe more – away if you're flying at 33,000ft, and that information can be relayed straight back to the pilot in the cockpit and he's able to see volcanic ash in the atmosphere ahead of the aircraft and manoeuvre around it."

The budget airline successfully tested the system on a microlight aircraft over a two-week period above the Mount Etna volcano in Sicily and said they hope to install the equipment on its fleet next year.

EasyJet’s Head of Engineering, Ian Davies, said: "The testing of the technology is an exciting next step in the journey to get AVOID on to easyJet aircraft which we hope to do by summer 2012."

This is a big step for the aviation industry, which has been trying to find a solution to flying in an ash cloud atmosphere since the eruption of Eyjafjallajökul in April 2010, and another volcano eruption in May of this year, resulted in travel chaos costing an estimated £1bn.

EasyJet said that after analysing the two recent Icelandic eruptions the majority of flight cancellations would have been prevented with AVOID technology

Around 10 million passengers were affected by the eruption in 2010 with more than 10,000 flights cancelled, largely because air space officials were forced to assume the ash was covering a vast area, the International Air Transport Association claims.

Easyjet said their research reveals that ash actually travels in 'clumps' and if you can detect where the ash is concentrated you can simply redirect plane routes around the area of concern.

The airline also claims that most of the airspace cancelled in 2010 would have been left open if the AVOID device had been available.

There are plans for AVOID to be tested again by EasyJet and plane-making company Airbus on large A340 planes from next year.

Dr Prata remains optimistic that the device will eventually be fitted onto commercial aircrafts. He said: "In the absence of proven technology thousands of flights were grounded. This large scale grounding of flights should not happen again, thanks to both satellite and airborne technology which can be used to accurately predict not only the dispersal of ash from volcanic eruption but also crucially the levels of concentration."