In Norway they have closed the entire Norwegian airspace, even the SAR and HEMS are grounded!
The only SAR machine available now is the one at Svalbard....
This is kind of crazy!
"We are put back 50 years" is the headline:
- Vi er satt 50 år tilbake i tid | ABC Nyheter
"Dramatic when the helicopter can't fly because of volcanic ash":
- Dramatisk når helikopteret ikkje får flyge på grunn av vulkanaske - Møre og Romsdal - NRK Nyhende
The airspace will open on friday, if not later.
"Volcanic ash is hard to detect from an aircraft, and is not visible on the weatherradar.
The most dangerous aspect is that the particles'(ash) meltingpoint is lower than the turbines' working-temp. This leads to the ash melting to a thick, lava-like fluid, that slowly floats into the engine and causing it to shut down.
The ashparticles are very hard, with sharp edges, effectively sand-blowing leading edges.
The windshields are most vulnerable, turning matte, and the pilot's loose visibility."
-From the Norwegian Meterological Institute.
Where I am, the weather is:
METAR 151120Z 02006KT 320V050 9999 FEW030 BKN055 09/02 Q1015
If there is such a danger involved in flying helicopters VFR, then the air should be so saturated with volcanic ash that it would be dangerous to stay outside without any protection (face-mask etc), wouldn't it????
