Message posted by RickB on April 19, 2010 at 9:17:15 PST:

A bit off topic, but an amazing story none the less....

With the volcanic ash cloud currently menacing Europe and airline travel, I recall the British Airways Boeing 747 in 1982 that lost all four engines at 36,000 as a result of flying through a volcanic ash cloud. A 747 has a glide ratio of 15:1 meaning it can glide forward 15 kilometers for every one kilometer it drops. At 27,000 feet, the pilot made this announcement to the passengers:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust that you are not in too much distress".

With an 11,900 mountain range clearance rapidly approaching the pilot was able to re-start one engine and then the remaining three at 13,000 feet.

This was the first airplane flight which determined the dangerous affects of volcanic ash on airplane travel.

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