According to a program I saw, the next eruption might not be so bad.
Apparently, the reason that there is a problem with the ash cloud is that it is full of silicon ; this melts
when sucked into the engines and forms a layer of glass on the blades of the turbine, which causes the engine to stop.
The reason this ash cloud is full of silicon, unlike usual eruptions, is that the eruption is coming up through a glacier.
When the magma hits the ice , it cools rapidly, causing an explosion which shatters it into tiny particles which go
up in the cloud.
Once the ice of the glacier has been melted, this will no longer happen.
The glass on the blades of the turbine can be removed by blowing cold air over them; the glass flakes and falls off. This was
discovered quite by chance when a jet flew through such a cloud and all its engines failed. Naturally, it dropped like a stone.
However, the cold air rushing through the engines caused the glass to flake and blow away and the pilot was able to restart the engines.
I am glad that I was not there; I don't think my sphincter would have coped.
No questions please. I am merely repeating what I believe I heard.
