Out of the ashes

The lessons of BA9

The incident is so dramatic and frightening – and so relevant to today’s airlines as they grapple with how to handle volcanic ash – that it seems as if it happened only yesterday.

But it was 30 years ago on June 24 1982 that BA9, 747-236B G-BDXH City of Edinburgh, found itself flying into a wall of volcanic ash over Indonesia en route from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, catapulting Cap-tain Eric Moody to international fame.