I’m sharing the story of British Airways Flight 009, callsign Speedbird 9, that departed from London Heathrow to Auckland. I’ve compiled the following information primarily from Wikipedia. The plane was a Boeing 747-236B. Photo credit also Wikipedia: Roger Ivester

Actual plane photo as following:

On 24 June 1982, the aircraft flew into a cloud of volcanic dust by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, SE of Jakarta, Indonesia. A catastrophic event occurred….all four engines shutdown.

Selected information as following from Wikipedia:

On 24 June 1982, the route was flown by the City of Edinburgh, a Boeing 747-236B registered as G-BDXH. The aircraft flew into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung around 110 miles (180 km) south-east of Jakarta, Indonesia, resulting in the failure of all four engines.

Partly because the event occurred at night, obscuring the cloud, the reason for the failure was not immediately apparent to the crew or air traffic control. The aircraft was diverted to Jakarta in the hope that enough engines could be restarted to allow it to land there. The aircraft glided out of the ash cloud, and all engines were restarted (although one started vibrating and the crew had to shut it down soon after), allowing the aircraft to land safely at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta.

The crew members of the accident segment had boarded the aircraft in Kuala Lumpur, while many of the passengers had been aboard since the flight began in London.

Incident or event:

At the time of the incident, the flight crew consisted of 32-year-old Senior First Officer Roger Greaves, 40-year-old Senior Engineer Officer Barry Townley-Freeman, and 41-year-old Captain Eric Henry Moody. The flight crew members had boarded the aircraft at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Kuala Lumpur and were due to pilot the 747-200 for the Malaysia to Perth Airport leg.^[4]

Shortly after 13:40 UTC (20:40 Jakarta time) above the Indian Ocean, south of Java, the crew first noticed an unusual effect on the windscreen similar to St. Elmo’s fire. Despite the weather radar showing clear skies, the crew switched on engine anti-ice and the passenger seat belt signs as a precaution.

As the flight progressed, smoke began to accumulate in the passenger cabin of the aircraft. Passengers who had a view of the aircraft’s engines through the window noted that they were unusually bright blue, with light shining forward through the fan blades and producing a stroboscopic effect.

Around 13:42 UTC (20:42 Jakarta time), the number-four Rolls-Royce RB211 engine began surging and soon flamed out. The flight crew immediately performed the engine shutdown drill, quickly cutting off fuel supply and arming the fire extinguishers. Less than a minute later, at 13:43 UTC (20:43 Jakarta time), engine two surged and flamed out.

Within seconds, and almost simultaneously, engines one and three flamed out, prompting the flight engineer to exclaim, “I don’t believe it—all four engines have failed!”

Without engine thrust, a 747-200 has a glide ratio of roughly 15:1, meaning it can glide forward 15 (about 9 miles) for every 0.62 miles it drops.

The flight crew quickly determined that the aircraft was capable of gliding for 23 minutes and covering 91 nautical miles from its flight level of 37,000 feet.

At 13:44 UTC (20:44 Jakarta time), Greaves broadcast a Mayday to the local air traffic control authority, stating that all four engines had failed. However, Jakarta Area Control misunderstood the message, interpreting the call as meaning that only engine number four had shut down.

After a nearby Indonesia flight relayed the message to them, air traffic control correctly understood the urgent message. Despite the crew emergency transponder setting of 7700, air traffic control could not locate the 747 on their radar screens.

Many passengers, fearing for their lives, wrote notes to relatives.

Reports from another source say passengers were in awe of an electrical light storm outside the plane, as the engines glowed white and then stopped.

Owing to the high Indonesian mountains on the south coast of the island of Java, an altitude of at least 11,500 feet was required to cross the coast safely.

The crew decided that if the aircraft was unable to maintain altitude by the time they reached 12,000 feet they would turn back out to sea and attempt to ditch into the Indian Ocean.

The crew began engine restart drills, despite being well outside the recommended maximum engine in-flight start envelope altitude of 28,000 feet. The restart attempts failed.

Despite the lack of time, Moody made an announcement to the passengers that has been described as “a masterpiece of understatement.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”

As pressure within the cabin fell, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling – an automatic emergency measure to make up for the lack of air. On the flight deck, however, Greaves’s mask was broken; the delivery tube had detached from the rest of the mask. Moody swiftly decided to descend at 1,800 m per minute to an altitude where there was enough pressure in the outside atmosphere to breathe almost normally.

At 13,500 feet (4,100 m), the crew was approaching the altitude at which they would have to turn over the ocean and attempt a risky ditching. Although the crew had guidelines for the water landing procedure, no one had ever tried it in a Boeing 747.

As they performed the engine restart procedure, engine number four finally started, and at 13:56 UTC (20:56 Jakarta time), Moody used its power to reduce the rate of descent. Shortly thereafter, engine three restarted, allowing him to climb slowly. Shortly after that, engines one and two successfully restarted, as well.The crew subsequently requested and expedited an increase in altitude to clear the high mountains of Indonesia.

As the aircraft approached its target altitude, the St. Elmo’s fire effect on the windscreen returned. Moody throttled back, but engine number two surged again and was shut down. The crew immediately descended and held 12,000 feet (3,700 m).

As Flight 009 approached Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, the crew found seeing anything through the windscreen difficult, and made the approach almost entirely on instruments, despite reports of good visibility.

The crew decided to fly the instrument landing system, but the vertical guidance system was inoperative, so they were forced to fly with only the lateral guidance as the first officer monitored the airport’s distance-measuring equipment (DME). He then called out how high they should be at each DME step along the final approach to the runway, creating a virtual glide slope for them to follow.  

Although the runway lights could be made out through a small strip of the windscreen, the landing lights on the aircraft seemed to be inoperable. After landing, the flight crew found taxiing impossible, due to glare from apron floodlights, which made the already sandblasted windscreen opaque. Upon disembarking, the flight engineer knelt at the bottom of the steps and kissed the ground.

It must have been quite a feeling for the captain, flight crew and all passengers to be able to plant their feet on the ground, and think how close they all came to dying.

Captain Moody who was credited with saving the lives of 263 people on that fateful day, 24 June 1982, and passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 19th 2024 at the age of 82. Roger Ivester

This was my first time to attend the “Spruce Pine Alien Festival” and so glad I was able to go. What a day it was! I was probably passed by many “Real Space Aliens” but was just unaware at the time.

So here are some photos from the day:

26,000 people attended this one day event last year, and I feel sure there were more or at least as many this year. I had to park at least 1/2 mile away and walk to the downtown area, however, I didn’t mind this at all.

Pictured below: A beautiful Pure Crystal Ball made from Spruce Pine Quartz. Absolutely incredible, and amazing. The finest Quartz in the world comes from Spruce Pine. Computer chips for cars, computers and anything where they are used are made from Spruce Pine quartz.

And also the first mirror that was manufactured for the 200-inch Hale Telescope was made from this quartz. Unfortunately the mirror cracked during the process before completion and another one was made from a new process or material at that time, known as Pyrex. This glass was better able to handle the incredibly heat needed during the manufacturing process.

“Rocks And Things” have an unbelievable stock of collectable rocks, minerals, fossils and anything you can imagine. They have a brick and mortar store and been in business for many years in Spruce Pine.

This incredible quartz ball can be purchased from “Rocks And Things” at (828-765-1667). This is a one of kind item, so consider purchasing while it’s still available. I just didn’t seem to have enough cash in my pocket today. 🙂

Spruce Pine, North Carolina: How It became a part of astronomy history via The Chestnut Flats Mine, due to the incredibly pure Quartz which was used in the manufacture of the first 200-Inch Hale Telescope mirror. As mentioned previously (above) unfortunately that first mirror cracked during the manufacturing process.

Historic photo from days past of the Chestnut Flats mine as following: Photo credit: Mitchell County Historical Society

I found the following article by David Biddix, a Spruce Pine native, who shares some very interesting information. This is not the complete article.

Alex Glover…is the Director of Mining and Environment for Active Minerals International, LLC. He is a licensed professional geologist in nine southeastern states in the United States and has lived in the Spruce Pine area since 1997. He is interested both in the geology of the Spruce Pine Mining District and in its history, which goes back some 170 years.

….I’ve always wondered why ore from the Chestnut Flats Mine near Spruce Pine was chosen for the telescope’s mirror. Recently, I had a discussion with Alex Glover, a local geologist and mining historian who is very familiar with what is known as the Spruce Pine Mining District, a 10 mile-long, 5 mile-wide outcropping of rock from early in earth’s history that contains some of the purest minerals in the world and is the economic lifeblood of this region. This purity was the reason Corning Glass came to this region to find materials for the mirror. Alex speaks about what types of minerals are found in the district….

David Biddix: Spruce Pine, North Carolina

Now for the complete article by David Biddix as following: Click on the following link…

November 4th: The Role of Spruce Pine Quartz in Astronomy

I purchased the following quartz specimens, pictured on the table below from “Rocks And Things.” Possibly even from the famous Chestnut Flats Mine, or for sure from the same vein of quartz rock. Roger Ivester

Solar telescopes provided by North Carolina Amateur Astronomers, and friends of mine for many years. Steve Davis and Don Brooks.

After not eating anything all day, I decided to stop at Western Sizzlin’ Steak House in Spruce Pine, for a delicious meal. Despite a large and overflowing crowd, I was able to be seated quickly and with excellent service. I could for sure recommend the Western Sizzlin’ Steak House, for great food and service.