This Day in History: 1982-06-24

The British Airways Boeing 747-200 G-BDXH “City of Edinburgh” operating flight BA009 from London to Melbourne and Auckland on 24 June 1982 suddenly plunged 25,000 feet during the leg from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, when all four of its engines failed after passing through a volcanic ash plume over Indonesia. The aircraft diverted and landed safely at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta after re-starting all four engines (one subsequently failed again). The CSIRO later undertook volcanic ash detection development. Source: Job, M. Air Disaster 2, March 1996. via aph.gov.au website