What two actions must a tower controller allow and provide for when volcanic ash is present on the airport surface?

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Multiple Choice

What two actions must a tower controller allow and provide for when volcanic ash is present on the airport surface?

When volcanic ash is on the airport surface, the safest, most practical approach is to keep aircraft moving on contaminated surfaces and to avoid stopping on them. The two actions to implement are to avoid requiring aircraft to come to a full stop while taxiing and to provide for a rolling takeoff for all departures. Rolling takeoffs limit the time an aircraft sits on an ash-covered surface and reduces exposure to ash during the critical transition from taxi to takeoff. It also minimizes the likelihood of ash ingestion or surface contamination problems that can occur when a vehicle or aircraft is held in place. The other options imply additional procedures that aren’t necessary: inspecting tires before movement isn’t the mandated response to ash on the surface, and delaying all departures until the surface is ash-free is impractical in many situations. The focus in ash conditions is to maintain movement and enable rolling departures to manage risk effectively.

When volcanic ash is on the airport surface, the safest, most practical approach is to keep aircraft moving on contaminated surfaces and to avoid stopping on them. The two actions to implement are to avoid requiring aircraft to come to a full stop while taxiing and to provide for a rolling takeoff for all departures. Rolling takeoffs limit the time an aircraft sits on an ash-covered surface and reduces exposure to ash during the critical transition from taxi to takeoff. It also minimizes the likelihood of ash ingestion or surface contamination problems that can occur when a vehicle or aircraft is held in place.

The other options imply additional procedures that aren’t necessary: inspecting tires before movement isn’t the mandated response to ash on the surface, and delaying all departures until the surface is ash-free is impractical in many situations. The focus in ash conditions is to maintain movement and enable rolling departures to manage risk effectively.

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