I did not have a good feeling about this decision to open everything up. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be in a plane flying about British airspace.
Whoops!
European airline pilots warn governments about engine failures caused by ash amid pressure to get flights moving again
Pilots warn against ‘rash’ decisions to allow flights through the volcanic ash cloud amid pressure to get flights started again. Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
European airline pilots warned governments and safety regulators today against making "rash" decisions to allow planes to fly through volcanic ash clouds amid growing pressure from airlines across Europe to create "safe flying corridors" to get flights moving again.
The pilots' intervention came as air traffic controllers dashed hopes that flights would resume from London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted this evening by announcing that most UK airspace would remain closed until 1am tomorrow. Airlines said the restrictions, which meant only a few flights took off from airports in Scotland and northern England, were an over-reaction.
BA announced tonight it was cancelling all flights until midday tomorrow.
The UK's air safety watchdog, the Civil Aviation Authority, is holding meetings with national air traffic controllers, airline executives and Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, to discuss flying through zones with small amounts of ash. But the European Cockpit Association, told the Guardian today that any attempts to establish "safe flying corridors" through airspace where ash was present should not be rushed.
[ ... see more at link ...]
Didn’t we fly a few military planes through this stuuf and found out the engines were trashed?
Typical Damaged to Aircraft by Volanic Ash:
http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/jma-eng/jma-center/vaac/typical%20damage.htm
Sorry, but I would NEVER fly or allow any of my friends or family to fly through airspace that even had the POSSIBILITY of that type of contamination.
Damage to the engines is bad enough, but if you are flying on one of the newer Airbus aircraft with FBL (Fly By Light, fiber optic control of flight surfaces and systems) systems, those pito tubes could clog up in a heartbeat and the aircraft computers would drive the craft into the earth.
Europe screws over Iceland, but Iceland fights back with a volcano. Wonder who will win this one?
Here's an AP report, translated from Dutch by Google Translate:WAITTAMINUTEHERE! LoM, you know I don't know Dutch, but aren't these sentences being presented in both Dutch and English?!?OOSTENDE (AP) - When inspecting an aircraft of the U.S. airline World Airways International Airport Ostend-Bruges axes found in the engines. Dat meldde de luchthaveninspectie in Oostende. Reported that the Ostend airport inspection. Het vliegtuig landde dinsdagnamiddag na een vlucht vanaf de luchthaven bij Maastricht. The plane landed Tuesday afternoon after a flight from the airport to Maastricht.
Het vliegtuig wordt aan de grond gehouden. The plane is grounded. Of er schade is, moet woensdag blijken na een grondige inspectie door een gespecialiseerd technicus. Whether there is damage, must appear Wednesday after a thorough inspection by a qualified technician.
Het vliegtuig van World Airways was het tweede toestel dat op Oostende landde. The aircraft of World Airways was the second aircraft that landed at Ostend. Bij een inspectie van het eerste toestel werd geen as aangetroffen. An inspection of the first device was found no ashes.
Een tweede vrachtvlucht van World Airways, die uit Duitsland moest komen, werd afgelast na de vondst van as op het toestel uit Maastricht. A second cargo flight from World Airways, which had come from Germany, was canceled after the discovery of ash on the device from Maastricht.
If they’re flying the route next Monday (as they are today), I’ll be on a 777 into LHR on Monday. I’m really not worried.
Thousands of flights per day in the week ahead, and planes aren’t falling out of the sky.
Those planes are going to be better-inspected than ever, making this a safer time to fly than usual.
-PJ