In 2010 an ash cloud from an eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland caused the closure of much of Europe’s airspace for six days from 16-21 April. A conference at the Royal Aeronautical Society on 9 November focused on the events and their consequences and looked at what lessons could be learned for the future. BILL READ reports.

On 4 November Qantas flight QF32, an Airbus A380 outbound from Singapore, ran into serious problems when a turbine on its Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine suffered an uncontained failure. We caught up with one of the five pilots onboard, who describes how the crew professionally dealt with the incident, the sequence of events, and how the most dangerous period was after they had landed.
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Can aviation safety be enhanced by always-on flight data telemetry being transmitted back to base? With growing connectivity in the air – some argue that it is time that the traditional airliner ‘black box’ gets connected.

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The RAeS Publications team report from #Farn10

Day 4 of the Farnborough airshow and the weather finally turned, with a torrential downpour that sometimes made hearing what people were saying difficult in the halls. The press conference frenzy also quietened down, allowing the aerospace media more time to fan out across the show for more in-depth interviews and one-to-one chats. Go To Item