2003 CARIBBEAN VOLCANIC ASH ENCOUNTERS

Flight Operations received notice on March 17, 2003, from the National Weather Service, that the Montserrat volcano had erupted, sending particulate and ash into the atmosphere. Volcanic ash was transported into populated areas as east to west upper and lower atmospheric wind patterns shifted north by northwest. All aircraft enroute to San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Antigua, Santo Domingo and St. Maarten were immediately contacted by dispatch to try to divert aircraft away from the adverse effects of this meteorological condition. Flight operations were ended for almost 6 hours in San Juan and its surrounding area until a volcanic ash pilot report and Notice to Airmen was rescinded. Major volcanic activity occurred again at Montserrat on July 12, 2003. The dome of the volcano collapsed, spewing particulate and ash into the atmosphere. An Airbus aircraft inbound to San Juan, Puerto Rico came upon an unforeseen cloud of ash at about 6000 feet. The encounter ended up causing damage to the aircraft's forward flight deck windows and engine fan blades.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • These proceedings contain the abstract only of this presentation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Coordinator, Meteorological Services & Support Research

  8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1500
  Silver Spring, MD  United States  20901
• Authors:
  • Beerley, A M
• Conference:
  • 2nd International Conference on Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety
  • Location: Alexandria, Virginia
  • Date: 2004-6-21 to 2004-6-24
• Publication Date: 2004-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 1p
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety, June 21-24, 2004, Alexandria, Virginia

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft; Atmosphere; Blades (Machinery); Clouds; Engines; Fans; Flight; Flight decks; Meteorological phenomena; Operations; Particulates; Volcanic ash; Volcanic eruptions; Windows (Vehicles)
• Geographic Terms: Antigua; Monserrat volcano; Saint Thomas (Virgin Islands); San Juan (Puerto Rico); Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic); Sint Maarten (Netherlands Antilles); St. Croix
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Aviation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00988818
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 12 2005 12:00AM