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U.K. closes it's airports due to volcanic ash

SEATAC

By SEATAC,
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SEATAC

SEATAC 400

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http://www.nats.co.uk/

From NATS website: Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Thurs April 15, 09:30

From midday today until at least 6pm, there will be no flights permitted in UK controlled airspace other than emergency situations. This has been applied in accordance with international civil aviation policy. We continue to monitor the situation with the Met Office and work closely with airline customers and adjoining countries. We will review the situation later today to understand what further action will be required

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mutley

mutley 4,497

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Hi SEATAC,

Yes big news here, we cannot see the dust as the sun is burning through it but apparently sunset tonight should be good, if I remember I will try and get some shots.

Cheers

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stu7708

stu7708 244

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The same situation up here in scandinavia. Norweigan airspace was closed the whole day yesterday along with the northern parts of sweden. And then it got progressivly worse with ESGG (Landvetter) closing down operations at 2 PM and ESSA (Arlanda) together with the rest of swedish airspace at around 6 PM.

No word yet as to when they will start flying again.

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SEATAC

SEATAC 400

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My In-laws (who hail from England but now live in Florida) flew to Dallas, TX on Thursday for business to meet with some associates who flew in from London and got out just before they closed Heathrow. They are due to fly back to the U.K. on Sunday. I don't think they'll get out on time.

Mutley, if you can get some pictures to post, I'd love to see them!

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SEATAC

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A question for those of you who live in the U.K.

Are GA aircraft still allowed to fly? The news reports just say that the airspace is shut down, but I would think that GA aircraft flying below say 10,000 ft could still fly. Can anyone clarify this for me?

Thanks.

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hurricanemk1c

hurricanemk1c 195

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GA is allowed to fly, but only as VFR and is being advised not to fly

Some circuits will be fine!

UPDATE - Airspace closed till 1am UK tomorrow, Shannon, Cork and some regional airports have reopened, some trans-atlantic flights got away from Dublin this morning

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allardjd

allardjd 1,853

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I think this is going to get worse before it gets better, simply becuase the volcanic activity shows not signs of abating. There's a bigger one nearby and if it awakes and gets into the act, things get worse and certainly more prolonged. The economic effects and the impacts on stranded people as well as the disruption of vitally needed things that must fly will cause two things to happen soon...

1) People are going to run out of patience and both individuals and businesses are going to begin accusing the authorities of being overly conservative and draconian. Pressure will build for them to be less restrictive in prohibiting flight. As the large scale economic impacts build in, governments are going to bring their own back-channel pressure to bear on the governmental agencies responsible for imposing the restrictions.

2) Those in charge of the airspace and the restrictions are going to begin finessing the situation, allowing more flights. A very complex and relatively dynamic set of airspace restrictions are going to be rolled out, where restricted areas will be three-dimensional, vice the 2D blockouts we're seeing now. Certain altitudes will be blocked out with flights permitted above and below where the ash is determined to be. It's going to be difficult for operators, aircrew and ATC to stay current on where flight is allowed and where it is not, but they'll make every attempt to do so and some will even chisel.

John

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rob16584

rob16584 42

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I saw on the news last night that a GA aircraft crashed in the UK, but they are not putting it down to the ash at this stage.

It's annoying in a way with all the moaning people are doing. You could either fly and have a strong chance of death, or, wait a little longer and be inconvenienced and live. Simple choice really!

I was reading a report that the estmiated cost to airlines is

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SEATAC

SEATAC 400

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I think this is going to get worse before it gets better, simply becuase the volcanic activity shows not signs of abating. There's a bigger one nearby and if it awakes and gets into the act, things get worse and certainly more prolonged. The economic effects and the impacts on stranded people as well as the disruption of vitally needed things that must fly will cause two things to happen soon...

1) People are going to run out of patience and both individuals and businesses are going to begin accusing the authorities of being overly conservative and draconian. Pressure will build for them to be less restrictive in prohibiting flight. As the large scale economic impacts build in, governments are going to bring their own back-channel pressure to bear on the governmental agencies responsible for imposing the restrictions.

2) Those in charge of the airspace and the restrictions are going to begin finessing the situation, allowing more flights. A very complex and relatively dynamic set of airspace restrictions are going to be rolled out, where restricted areas will be three-dimensional, vice the 2D blockouts we're seeing now. Certain altitudes will be blocked out with flights permitted above and below where the ash is determined to be. It's going to be difficult for operators, aircrew and ATC to stay current on where flight is allowed and where it is not, but they'll make every attempt to do so and some will even chisel.

John

Boy, were you ever right about this John. The second guessing has begun.

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  • 1 month later...
allardjd

allardjd 1,853

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I can't speak to the accuracy of what's claimed below or the actual source of these photos. They were embedded in an a forwarded e-mail from a friend. I don't know if this is accurate, exaggerated, contrived, or a hoax. They look real enough. Obviously, if true, this is an extreme example and most ash encounters wouldn't be expected to yield this kind of damage, but it's an eye opener.

E-Mail text follows...

Here's what happens to an engine when it's flown through a volcanic ash

cloud. This is a Cessna Citation (CJ2) that flew out of Germany. Luckily the

other engine kept running, although very sluggishly. The volcanic ash from

Iceland had a lot of metal in it. As can be seen from the pictures, the ash

particles melted and got stuck to internal engine parts.

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EDIT: It looks like a real event but from March 1 and not related to volcanic ash.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/cessna-citat ... mage.shtml

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