WORLD – Low cost carrier Easyjet is working on a system it hopes will enable jets to fly safely around clouds of volcanic ash.
The new infra-red technology allows pilots to see damaging airborne ash up to 62 miles ahead, giving them time to adjust their course accordingly.
Exhibitions and conference attendance figures were hit earlier this year due to the ash cloud that resulted from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano.
Easyjet claims the technology, titled the Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector (Avoid), has the support of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the body that decides whether or not it is safe to fly through ash.
The new system will be tested by Airbus on behalf of Easyjet within the next two months, and Easyjet hopes to have the system in operation on 12 planes by the end of the year.
