QuickCheck: Did volcanic ash cause an airliner to suffer total engine failure?

WITH the eruption of Mount Ruang in Sulawesi kicking off on April 16 and the subsequent upending of the travel plans of many due to all the airport closures and cancelled flights, it is only natural that many have questioned the need for such measures.

With all that has affected flights in Sabah and Sarawak - including the severing of air links to Peninsular Malaysia - there has also been a revival of talk that a volcanic eruption in Indonesia once caused an airliner to suffer total engine failure.