Scientists brave danger to fly up to ash cloud

Scientists were today analysing samples taken from the volcanic ash cloud sitting over the UK.

Yesterday, a team of experts embarked on a "very dangerous" mission - flying right up to the giant plume to take samples.

The data could reveal important information about the environmental impact of the eruption.

The operation will enable experts to update existing knowledge of air circulation patterns.

The findings will then be passed on to the Met Office and could have a bearing on its immediate forecasts.

This could in turn affect the decisions made by the Civil Aviation Authority relating to the reopening of British airports, one expert said.

The plane arrived back safely at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, last night.

Speaking prior to the mission, Peter Purcell, of the Natural Environment Research Council, based at Gloucester Airport, said: "I don't believe that anybody has really used an aircraft to sample the edge of these plumes before - it is actually very dangerous.

"If you fly into the ash and your engines stop, you crash."

Their plane, a Dornier 228 - was equipped with instruments warning pilots how close they were to the volcanic cloud.

"We can then fly at a level which is not a level of danger," he said.

The mission's objective is to determine the plume's speed and direction.

The group, which set off from Oxford Airport yesterday afternoon, included two emissions scientists and two instrument operators, flown by a pilot and co-pilot.

The Dornier 228 is able to fly where commercial airlines cannot because of its ability to 'see' the volcanic plume using the research instruments on board.

The plane has been modified with a series of small holes which suck in air, enabling experts to analyse its gas content.

They looked for evidence of sulphur dioxide - a characteristic gas exhaled by volcanoes which forms sulphuric acid, Mr Purcell said.

A series of canisters positioned under the plane's wings measures particulates - shards of volcanic ash - in the atmosphere, he added.

The aircraft will fly close to the plume where there is an increased amount of sulphate gases.

As it flew along the edge of the cloud, scientists monitored its height, density and position.

The information gathered enables experts to gauge where the concentrations of abrasive particles and acidic gases might be dangerous.

"It will give us some new information on the way volcanic plumes mature and change and how they evolve from the moment they erupt," Mr Purcell said.