What the profile screens for
Engine, air-data, environmental, route, and external ash-advisory information combine to indicate a possible volcanic-ash encounter.
Why it matters
Ash can affect engine operation, windscreens, sensors, air systems, and visibility, but FDM alone cannot confirm exposure.
Build the event around relationships—not one number.
Define the operating context
Identify the climb / cruise / descent state, aircraft configuration, location, and any required external data before applying logic.
Screen the signal relationship
Use validated combinations of engine parameters, airspeed disagreement, route position; avoid treating one isolated value as the whole event.
Confirm it is a genuine event
Check polarity, units, source, recording rate, dropouts, air/ground logic, persistence, and false-positive mechanisms.
Connect data to the safety question
Review procedures, reports, weather, airport and traffic context, exposure, recurrence, and the strength of the related barriers.
Recorded signals that may help explain the event.
Calibrated airspeed
Indicated airspeed corrected for instrument and position error, as provided by the aircraft data system.
Open parameter guide ↗% / ratio / aircraft-specificEngine thrust
One or more recorded measures of commanded or produced propulsion; the correct signal depends on engine and aircraft type.
Open parameter guide ↗Questions before conclusions
- Q1
Are engine parameters, airspeed disagreement, route position valid, correctly decoded, time-aligned, and sampled well enough for this event?
- Q2
What changed immediately before, during, and after the volcanic-ash encounter candidate indication?
- Q3
How do aircraft configuration, weather, airport geometry, automation state, and crew reports change the interpretation?
- Q4
Which current flight manual, SOP, maintenance, or operator event definition controls the final conclusion?
Safety topics that broaden the event review.
Unreliable airspeed
Recognition and management of disagreeing, implausible, frozen, or unavailable airspeed information caused by sensors, blockage, icing, data, or systems.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-045 · Aircraft systems & airworthinessPitot-static system
Integrity of pressure sensing, heating, drains, probes, ports, lines, and data used for airspeed, altitude, and vertical-speed information.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-056 · Powerplant & fuelFuel starvation
Interruption of fuel supply to an engine despite usable fuel remaining elsewhere, involving selection, transfer, feed, contamination, or system malfunction.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-068 · Weather & environmentVolcanic ash
Avoidance and management of volcanic ash exposure that may affect engines, sensors, windscreens, air systems, visibility, and continued safe flight.
Open topic profile ↗Crosswind Operations
Manage alignment, drift, bank, gust response, touchdown sequence, and directional control using aircraft- and operator-specific techniques.
Open topic brief ↗WeatherWindshear and Microburst
Recognize rapid changes in wind vector and the resulting airspeed, path, thrust, and vertical-energy effects close to the ground.
Open topic brief ↗Flight OperationsControlled Flight Into Terrain
Understand how a controllable aircraft can be flown into terrain or an obstacle through path, altitude, navigation, monitoring, or situational-awareness breakdowns.
Open topic brief ↗12 useful starting points
Terminology and topic relationships select these links; the publisher source remains authoritative.
Engine Relight After an All-engine Flameout
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for powerplant. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
Boeing's 56th annual statistical summary organizes commercial-jet accident data using stated definitions and the CAST/ICAO occurrence taxonomy.
Open official sourceIATA Annual Safety Report — 2024
IATA's 61st annual report provides an interactive, method-defined view of commercial aviation accident performance and contributing-factor classifications.
Open official sourceAirbus Crosswind Development and Certification
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNear CFIT event during Non Precision Approach
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for approach and landing. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceRadio Altimeter erroneous values
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for navigation and surveillance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceTerrain Awareness and Warning Systems operations based on GPS data
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for navigation and surveillance and human factors. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceWind shear: an invisible enemy to pilots?
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for weather. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-013 — Controlled Flight Into Terrain in Visual Conditions
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for navigation and surveillance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-020 — Reduced Visual References Require Vigilance
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceNTSB Safety Alert SA-033 — Landing at the Wrong Airport
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for approach and landing. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceAnnex 19 — Safety Management, Third Edition
Annex 19 consolidates ICAO safety-management provisions, including State safety responsibilities, SMS, safety-data collection and processing, and the protection and sharing of safety information.
Open official source