There are many instances of damage to jet aircraft as a result of an ash encounter . On 24 June 1982 a British Airways Boeing 747-236B ( Flight 9 ) flew through the ash cloud from the eruption of Mount Galunggung , Indonesia resulting in the failure of all four engines . The plane descended 24,000 feet ( 7,300 m ) in 16 minutes before the engines restarted , allowing the aircraft to make an emergency landing . On 15 December 1989 a KLM Boeing 747-400 ( Flight 867 ) also lost power to all four engines after flying into an ash cloud from Mount Redoubt , Alaska . After dropping 14,700 feet ( 4,500 m ) in four minutes , the engines were started just 1 – 2 minutes before impact . Total damage was US$ 80 million and it took 3 months ' work to repair the plane . In the 1990s a further US$ 100 million of damage was sustained by commercial aircraft ( some in the air , others on the ground ) as a consequence of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines
Flight 9
British Airways Flight 9
Volcanic ash