04/06/10 EasyJet is First Airline to Trial Ash Detection Technology
In a press release published by easyJet today, the airline are claiming to be the first airline in the world to trial volcanic ash detection equipment called AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector).
The equipment, which works in a similar way to current weather detection radar onboard aircraft has been developed at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) and can detect volcanic ash at a distance of upto 100km. The information is displayed to the pilots enabling flight path adjustments to be made, and sent to the airline's flight control centre where it is used to build an accurate image of the volcanic ash cloud using real time data.
easyJet Chief Executive Andy Harrison, said: “This pioneering technology is the silver bullet that will make large-scale ash disruption history. The ash detector will enable our aircraft to see and avoid the ash cloud, just like airborne weather radars and weather maps make thunderstorms visible.”