Recent Encounters of Aircraft with Volcanic Ash Clouds

This paper provides a preliminary analysis of data regarding aircraft encounters with volcanic ash clouds from 1973 through 2003. The information analyzed is the data compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey and Smithsonian Institution, in collaboration with the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center. This database utilizes summaries of reported encounters that include information about conditions during an ash encounter and information about the source volcano that produced the ash cloud.