Last April the UK was brought to a standstill as no fly zones were enforced across most of Europe due to Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull, volcanic ash cloud. In a recent study, aviation authorities were right to stop all flights.

During the six day flight ban airports and airlines alike argued with aviation regulators, including the Civil Aviation Authority, that the ban was an overreaction to the ash cloud. However, now, following a study by nano-geoscience specialists, the scientists have found that the particles found in the ash cloud were indeed sharp enough to put an aircraft at serious risk of engine failure.

The study was carried out by a team of scientists, based at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and the University of Iceland, and has been published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The findings have shown that the ash did include particles that were sharp enough, and hard enough, to clog the aircraft’s cooling ducts in jet engines, as well as cause abrasion on the aircraft body. In fact, the study states that the particles still in the air two weeks after the eruption were sharp enough to damage an aircraft.

At the time, many airlines, including British Airways fiercely criticised the Civil Aviation Authority about its lack of scientific studies and data on the effects of the ash cloud on aircraft to justify the flying ban. So much so, in defiance of the ban, the then CEO of BA, Willie Walsh, joined the fleet of a test flight during the ban. Upon his safe flight he ordered many BA long-haul flights to return flying again whilst the ban was still in place.

This demonstration of disbelieve that the ash cloud posed a threat was despite the fact that in 1982 a BA 747 flight, carrying 263 passengers and crew, flew through an ash cloud during the eruption of Mount Galunggung, Indonesia, that resulted in all four jet engines cutting out as melted ash coated their interior. The ash cloud also sandblasted all the surfaces of the aircraft, leaving just a 2" gap for the pilot to see through when landing.

During the ban 100,000 flights were affected; either delayed, stranded or cancelled across Europe and some airports around the world.

The six days of chaos is estimated to have cost European airlines and tour operators around £2.2billion. Whilst a few airlines investigated compensation it was unlikely their cases would be won and as such no airlines have received financial recompense for the disruption caused.