Europe's airlines and airports question flight bans

I knew the was going to happen if the eruption continued. That the
airlines would want to fly anyway.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8628323.stm

--
Charles

In article , Jean O'Boyle
wrote:

I don't think it was a silly way for Charles to react, Peter.
To me it sounds like, "Profits before Safety". I certainly would not
consider flying to Europe right now.. Our son has a neuroendocrinology
meeting in Rouen, France, in July...I just hope things will have settled
down by then and it will be safe for him then and for us to fly to Venice
this September, too.

I read peter the troll in your quotes as I have decided to ignore him
but to be clear I think the aviation safety authorities should evaluate
the test flights. I think the authorities initial decision to suspend
flights to protect the public was correct. If the tests made under the
actual current conditions prove that it is safe to fly then they should
allow flights to resume.

--
Charles

"Charles is an obnoxious, emotionally disturbed guy who just can't
stand being corrected and who can't think straight".

I just thought that one sentence needed repeating.

Here is a discussion that explains the safety risk and overviews past
incidents & offers insight into why this occurrence is different:

"Explosive volcanic eruptions inject large amounts of highly abrasive
ash - essentially very small rock fragments - into the upper
atmosphere, the cruising altitude of most jet airliners. It can cause
significant damage to both airframes and engines.

The U.S. Geological Survey said about 100 aircraft have run into
volcanic ash from 1983 to 2000. In some cases engines shut down
briefly after sucking in volcanic debris, but there have been no fatal
incidents.

In 1989, a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747 flew into an ash cloud
from Alaska's Redoubt volcano and lost all power, dropping from 25,000
feet to 12,000 feet before the crew could get the engines restarted.
The plane landed safely.

In another incident in the 1980s, a British Airways 747 flew into a
dust cloud and the grit sandblasted the windscreen. The pilot had to
stand and look out a side window to land safely.

Gideon Ewers, spokesman for the International Federation of Airline
Pilots Associations, attributed the extent of the disruption to amount
of air traffic in the area where the plume was drifting.

"Normally, these volcanic eruptions affect air travel in areas of thin
traffic such as the Aleutian islands in Alaska, or in Indonesia and
the Philippines," he said."

See full article at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6399826.shtml

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

On 4/18/10 3:19 PM, Jean O'Boyle wrote:



Peter, you do not know Charles...so your evaluation of him is totally false.

Jean, peter has proven him/herself to be nothing more than a troll
(might even be a reincarnation of chrissy for all we know)... better to
simply ignore it.

--Tom

On Apr 18, 3:58*pm, D Ball wrote:
Here is a discussion that explains the safety risk and overviews past
incidents & offers insight into why this occurrence is different:

"Explosive volcanic eruptions inject large amounts of highly abrasive
ash - essentially very small rock fragments - into the upper
atmosphere, the cruising altitude of most jet airliners. It can cause
significant damage to both airframes and engines.

The U.S. Geological Survey said about 100 aircraft have run into
volcanic ash from 1983 to 2000. In some cases engines shut down
briefly after sucking in volcanic debris, but there have been no fatal
incidents.

In 1989, a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747 flew into an ash cloud
from Alaska's Redoubtvolcanoand lost all power, dropping from 25,000
feet to 12,000 feet before the crew could get the engines restarted.
The plane landed safely.

In another incident in the 1980s, a British Airways 747 flew into a
dust cloud and the grit sandblasted the windscreen. The pilot had to
stand and look out a side window to land safely.

My understanding is that all of the 'dramatic' events occurred from
flying through relatively heavy ash. It was damn irritating to be
stuck in a city for days and see clear blue skies from horizon to
horizon...and upon asking a local about the weather, be told that it
is "clearer than normal".


Gideon Ewers, spokesman for the International Federation of Airline
Pilots Associations, attributed the extent of the disruption to amount
of air traffic in the area where the plume was drifting.

"Normally, these volcanic eruptions affect air travel in areas of thin
traffic such as the Aleutian islands in Alaska, or in Indonesia and
the Philippines," he said."

And yet, despite 30+ years of study, no one bothered to come up with a
criteria of what level of ash was safe ... and this was despite the EU
just recently holding an explicit "Volcano Exercise" in preparation
for the Iceland eruption.

My understanding is that they finally came up with the criteria of 2
milligrams per cubic meter - - but I haven't heard what the time
duration of exposure is on that. The basic problem is a progressive
accumulation of ash which liquifies and then precipitates on turbine
blades, which can allow a compressor to stall. As such, it sounds
like the criteria they came up with is for an unlimited duration
exposure.


-hh