It is suggested that fair weather waterspouts on sea can be feed with energy obtained from geothermal and volcanic undersea activity. This process can occasionally rise sand and stones from the ocean basin up to the sea surface, and from these, the waterspout dynamics can lift solid materials up to some kilometers height in the atmosphere. This implies a risk for aircraft navigation if the mechanism is not investigated further.

Preface: A privileged observer.

My sister Maria Paz was flying in a commercial flight to Tenerife (Canary Islands),

where she was born. For this and other reasons she has fly over the island many times

in her life. Hence she is customary with the flying and weather conditions during the

approach to any of the two airports in the island. On November 16th of 2009 Maria

Paz and her seven years old  son were approaching Tenerife to Los Rodeos Airport

when she observed the phenomenon that I want to tell you in her own words: 

“It was around 18 hours Local Time when the voice of approximation was given and

passengers required to fasten seatbelts. We where facing Tenerife island by the north.

The normal route coming from Madrid towards Tenerife (Los Rodeos) was turn on the

left in order to face Santa Cruz de Tenerife from South to North, towards La Laguna

and finally taking land up in Los Rodeos. But that evening we turned abruptly on to the

right and after a while,  on the left again, so that I could see Las Canteras beach in

Gran Canaria underneath me. I thought we where going to land at Gran Canaria

airport. Suddenly we turned again on the left, towards Tenerife from South to North,

flying next to the crater of El Teide, destination of Los Rodeos. Through the window of

the left side of the plane, 20 or 30 Km far away from our position I saw that big

chimney with a cloud on top of it. At the beginning I imagined it was an enormous torch

of black rain coming out the small white and perfect cloud, but few minutes later the

chimney was wider and grey and observed things inside it. They where stones of all

different dimensions. Nobody inside the plane seemed to be aware of this phenomenon,

so that I did not said anything to the flight attendants and stared at the nucleus of the

storm searching for a big stone to observe its direction. The big stone was upwards in a

slowly spinning movement. It was rounded and somewhat like a kidney. I don’t think the

flight cockpit crew member have had any opportunity to stare at the stones, because I

suppose they where busy with the instrumental and I could not talk to them when we

arrived the airport building because they had the door closed and the purser did not

allow me to pass inside. . .

“WATERSPOUTS AND EARTH DYNAMICS. A POSSIBLE RISK FOR AVIATION.”

Abstract: