Projects
Montserrat Island - Emergency Aviation Plan
In the Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat, a series of dome collapses in 1996 led to the first magmatic explosion during this eruption. Rocks and pumice fell in the south of the island, and houses were destroyed. A major ash plume rose to about 40,000 ft, and about 600,000 tonnes of ash was deposited in southern Montserrat. About one-quarter of the dome was removed during the dome collapses and subsequent explosion. The island’s only airport was closed and access was restricted to a helicopter landing on the island's cricket pitch.
Within three days of request from DFID, Mott MacDonald mobilised a team of specialists from their aviation division to visit Montserrat Island during the height of the volcanic eruptions in the summer of 1997. The purpose of the visit was to review the current operations, to identify short term options and to identify longer-term solutions of access to the island.
Short term options considered included the use of medium helicopter, heavy helicopter (EH101), STOL aircraft and amphibious aircraft or a combination of these. We also addressed the potential long term solutions although the steep topography of the island required extensive earthworks and construction costs ranging from £15-50m although the instability of the island could not support any particular option. We also designed improvements to the current helicopter operations to meet ICAO standards.
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