EasyJet to trial ash cloud detector

The AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector) system, described as a weather radar for ash, was created by Dr Fred Prata of the Norwegian Institute for Air Research.

AVOID is a system that involves placing infrared technology onto an aircraft to supply images to pilots and an airline’s flight control centre.

According to EasyJet, these images will enable pilots to see an ash cloud up to 100km ahead of the aircraft and at altitudes between 5,000ft and 50,000ft, allowing pilots to make adjustments to the plane’s flight path to avoid any ash cloud.

On the ground, information from aircraft with AVOID technology would be used to build an accurate image of the volcanic ash cloud using real time data, opening up large areas of airspace that would otherwise be closed during a volcanic eruption.

‘This pioneering technology is the silver bullet that will make large-scale ash disruption history,’ said EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison. ‘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.’