You’re going to hear about something that happened to an airliner during a night flight over Indonesia. Listen carefully for what the crew noticed first, what they decided the problem was, and how they dealt with it.
Flight 263, an Airbus A330, was cruising at flight level 350 on a night flight from Bali to Singapore. The cabin was quiet, and most of the passengers were asleep.
About twenty minutes after reaching cruise, a faint smell of sulphur drifted through the flight deck. Moments later, the crew noticed a strange blue glow flickering across the windshield, and the leading edges of the wings began to shimmer with the same eerie light.
The captain recognised the signs at once. A volcano in central Java had erupted that evening, and the aircraft had flown into a cloud of fine volcanic ash that the weather radar could not detect.
As the engines began to surge and their temperatures rose, the first officer eased the thrust levers back and started a slow turn away from the cloud. The crew began a careful descent towards clearer air and declared a Pan-Pan to air traffic control.
Within a few minutes the engines settled and ran normally again. As a precaution, the crew turned back and landed at Bali a little before one in the morning. Engineers later found the windscreen and wing edges lightly sandblasted by the ash, but the aircraft was otherwise undamaged.
Speaking practice
You are the captain of this flight. After landing safely at Bali, you make a short announcement to the passengers. In about thirty seconds, explain simply why the flight turned back, and reassure them that the aircraft is safe.
No model answer published. Record yourself on a phone voice memo and listen back — that’s where the practice happens.
