'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 it under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.'

I remember quite clearly when this British Airways flight nearly went down because it had flown through a cloud of volcanic ash. At the time, I thought staying away from such things was a complete no-brainer. As with all such things, the reality of the situation made it much more complicated than people realized at the time.