The centers were set up in the 1990s to improve forecasts of the locations of ash clouds from volcanic eruptions following incidents where commercial aircraft had flown through volcanic ash resulting in the loss of engine power . British Airways Flight 9 , a Boeing 747 , lost power to all four engines in 1982 over Indonesia after an eruption of Mount Galunggung . KLM Flight 867 , another Boeing 747 , again lost power to all engines in 1989 over Alaska after Mount Redoubt erupted . It was recognised following these and other incidents that volcanic ash was a danger to commercial aviation and that the only way to ensure that there would be no loss of an aircraft was to alert pilots in a timely manner to divert their flight around the cloud
KLM Flight 867
KLM Flight 867
Volcanic Ash Advisory Center