The Big Volcanic Ash from Iceland Thread

[mitchja]

Had to re-book my BMI domestic flight this morning as my original flight on Friday has been cancelled. Quite a few domestic flights are still been cancelled today and tomorrow so keep an eye on things if your connecting to/from domestic flights.

Now get to LHR an hour earlier so more CH time tomorrow.

There are reports on the news that there has been ash found in a typhoon engine, would the airlines need to start worrying about this?

Sorry to sound ignorant but is there a big difference between engines on commercial aircraft and a fast jet.

Made it back from shanghai on today's VS251. Was on standby and got one of the last seats in premium, the outsourced operation at pudong and standby list was a total shambles though.

[Pete]

There are reports on the news that there has been ash found in a typhoon engine, would the airlines need to start worrying about this?

Sorry to sound ignorant but is there a big difference between engines on commercial aircraft and a fast jet.

I believe not, if it's the incident I'm thinking of that was reported on the BBC.

There are reports on the news that there has been ash found in a typhoon engine, would the airlines need to start worrying about this?

Sorry to sound ignorant but is there a big difference between engines on commercial aircraft and a fast jet.

A jet engine is essentially a jet engine and work on the same basis whether attached to a passenger jet, a private jet or a jet fighter.

the military jet might have some extra protection etc but thats about the only difference.

[buns]

Had to re-book my BMI domestic flight this morning as my original flight on Friday has been cancelled. Quite a few domestic flights are still been cancelled today and tomorrow so keep an eye on things if your connecting to/from domestic flights.

Now get to LHR an hour earlier so more CH time tomorrow.

Hope all goes according to plan y) y)

buns

Interesting to read a volcanologist's view of the flight closures.

Interesting to read a volcanologist's view of the flight closures.

Sorry Bill, but what this says doesn't really add anything. So, the volcano emitted ash, the author isn't able to say where that ash was, in what concentration, calls NATS the EU and provides no substantiation for closing airspace other than 'a volcano went off somewhere'.

Scientists who create models that lead to major disruptive events should be open to intense scrutiny where the effect is costly and covers millions of people. I still don't see this.

The problem does not appear to be at the modelling end.
It is the lack of a defined limit by airlines/ICAO/engine manufacturers.
Zero is an unacceptable limit.
It seems a lot more information is coming out of the woodwork on the decision making process.

ICAO were trying to raise the limit up to one month ago. A working group was set up in 2008 to study volcanic ash. It made representations to all parties concerned and encouraged them to attend a conference about a month ago. After asking IATA to survey airlines on risks and what levels they might accept. IATA did not attend the ICAO conference but reported it had canvassed all member airlines heavily but sadly none had responded.

It comes down to legal a**e covering.

The only people who can recommend a realistic limit don't so the only one left is Zero.

The crucial point from the volcanologists is that this WILL happen again. Unless someone comes up with acceptable figures and a realistic model based on them developed, we either are left with a choice of flying with unknown risk or we have this whole sorry mess again.

[Nottingham Nick]

It comes down to legal a**e covering.

I think that is the crux of it. In this day and age when a person in any walk of life or industry identifies a possible safety hazard to their supervisor, it may start an unstoppable chain reaction.

It is a brave person that tells their subordinate they are wrong. the easiest thing is to push the problem up the chain of command - then, the higher it gets the harder it is to stop.

Nick

[Darren Wheeler]

According to the VS website, by tomorrow (Wednesday 28th) they believe that everyone of their passengers stranded will have been brought back. This is 50,000+

Not bad for a weeks work.

According to the VS website, by tomorrow (Wednesday 28th) they believe that everyone of their passengers stranded will have been brought back. This is 50,000+

Not bad for a weeks work.

and yet there are still people waiting to get home :w

Our last pax stranded in Japan are flying tomorrow.
There are some people who rebooked their flight home for the beginning of May and are actually quite happy with that so in, our company, by close of play everyone who was TRYING to get home as soon as possible will have made it.
Ed

[mitchja]

There where several pax on my VS12 flight today that had been stranded since as early as the 15th. Some had flown up from MCO via JetBlue.

Apparently the flights coming home from MCO are all full for at least the rest of this week.

MCO pax seem to have been hit the hardest with all of this.

[Neil]

MCO pax seem to have been hit the hardest with all of this.

Yes, it would have been the last few days of the Easter hols for a lot of people, so I can imagine the MCO flights were fully booked.

According to the VS website, by tomorrow (Wednesday 28th) they believe that everyone of their passengers stranded will have been brought back. This is 50,000+

Not bad for a weeks work.

Another example of the VS website being as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

We are still here in Orlando and are due back on VS28 on the 29th.

I phoned the Au line yesterdy to see if there was anything earlier and there was nothing. Miami was showing full up to 1st May.

[mitchja]

Quite a few empty seats in all cabins my my VS12 flight today.

Well - I had one cancellation & rebook getting to MCO in April and now 4 weeks laster, I'm due back into Manchester on the VS076 this Tuesday morning. I wonder whether this will mean another cancellation or whether they will take us to another airport. I hope so as it's forcast rain for the next week
I'm just waiting for OLCI to see whether they still intend to fly.

Katie

Uh Oh!

Uh Oh!

v(
i hope that comes to nothing i am flying again next month!

At least it has an easier name to pronouce! xx(

Uh Oh!

I predict Sunday evening or Monday morning n( , or indeed anything before the VS27 on Monday !

David

(wants to run away ii) )

It can errupt August 19th, by then I'll have been on all my (well all 2) booked holidays this year! Saying that though, even if it doesn't errupt for a while, when/if it does I'm still going to have to do with all the chaos at work, tch!

Isn't Katla a different type of volcano than Eyjafjallajökull so the effects might be different.

Eyja... was bad becuase it was errupting under a glacier and that generated more steam and changed the lava output into ash / dust rather than the more usual volcanic lava flows.

Unfortunately if Katla blows her top it is anticipated it will put Eyjafjallajökull into the shade. Depending on what paper/website you read, it's reported to either plunge the world into a deep freeze, or at the very least make the recent flight chaos look like a walk in the park.

At the end of the day no 'expert' can say with any certainity what will/is going to happen, but let's hope it's not too bad.