#41
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No stopping it now ...
Who's to say the volcano is going to stop any time soon? It could keep erupting on and off for weeks, months or even years. Methinks someone had better come up with plan B real soon!
Is it feasible to increase FLs to go over the volcanic ash cloud or does it go above FL400? Or does even a short ascent and descent through the cloud result in flameout or engine and windscreen damage??
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Philip |
#42
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Hi Philip
I think the ash has risen to at least 20,000 metres and a report I heard on the radio yesterday mentioned that the last time the volcano erupted (in the 19th century) it spewed ash intermittently for two years. And a report in "The West Australian" today had an interview with a couple who were aboard the BA flight which flew through volcanic ash near Indonesia in 1982 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Perth. All four engines stopped and the pilot had to put the B747 into a steep dive to restart the engines. Thankfully they did and the aircraft landed safely in Jakarta. Apparently the aircraft was only in the volcanic cloud for a short time so by the sounds of things you just don't go anywhere near them. |
#43
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Land safely it did - this is despite the windscreen being opaque thanks to effectively being sandblasted and similarly the landing lights were badly impacted. They could not even taxi off the runway by themselves, had to get a tow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9 The captain of that flight is still around to talk to the media today, which of course he has been doing. http://news.google.com/news/search?q=Eric+Moody http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8623210.stm http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/0....story/?hpt=C2 Quote:
Last edited by Robert S; 17th April 2010 at 02:19 PM. |
#44
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UK Met Office Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre
http://metoffice.com/aviation/vaac/index.html Issued Graphics: http://metoffice.com/aviation/vaac/vaacuk_vag.html See also - Icelandic Met Office http://en.vedur.is/ Eruption Flyby: http://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/2010/nr/1877 |
#45
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Speaking to a friend in Southern Portugal, they are receiving some extra flights into Faro and Lisbon (mainly charter) as they are well south of the ash cloud. People are then able catch trains into Spain and France. Spain, Portugal and Southern France may well be viable ports into Europe if this continues for some time - just means flying over Africa and not through Europe.
I did see a report on sky news that suggested areas like Russia, Japan and even northern USA and Canada may be affected by the cloud as it moves around the globe in coming days/weeks. If it does behave like it did in 1820, maybe ocean liners will make a return at least on the atlantic runs? This is from the Eurocontrol web site. Quote:
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#46
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Quote:
I wonder how badly BA is going to be hit by all of this - will also be interesting to see where this leaves the cabin crew dispute. |
#47
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And it now looks like SQ378 may be operating direct to Barcelona - the Flight Status has now eliminated Milan and has it arriving in Barcelona an hour ahead of the Scheduled time.
Assuming there is a crew to operate SQ377, it will be interesting to see whether they delay it until Milan is open again, or do the return direct as well. Direct would probably be good for the passengers too - no doubt lots of empty seats with no Milan stop. Edit at 15:30 - have to love the live flight tracking as http://www.flightradar24.com/ shows SQ378 at FL370 just west of Corsica now. Last edited by Michael Cleary; 17th April 2010 at 03:36 PM. Reason: Update with Flight Tracker |
#48
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Thanks for the tip Nigel, but I reckon Heathrow (and Gatwick) would be more appealing at present!!
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Cheers, NeilP |
#49
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Have a thought if one of the Indonesian volcanoes was to let go in the near future ... how would that affect Australian Airspace? Would we see the same mass shutdown as Europe?
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#50
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Hi there
Ryanair have cancelled 1,162 flights for saturday 17/04, they are allowing rebooking at no extra charge. Is it Mick's birthday or Irish new year, because Ryanair would normally say tough ****, not our problem. Anthony T |
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