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Old 17th Apr 2010, 18:12
  #683 (permalink)  
AnthonyGA
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Paris, France
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Not me - I think it's verging on the insanity.
Insanity or not, throughout the history of aviation the only way to gather important safety data in many contexts has been through test flights. The only way to know what happens is to go up there. That's what test pilots and test aircraft are for. You use only volunteers.

The alternative is to continue in near total ignorance of the real effects of volcanic ash, and if you don't know the effects, the only true safe course of action it to keep everything grounded as long as there's any ash anywhere. That's not a practical route for the long term, should the eruptions continue for two years, as they have in the past.

It may well be that no amount of ash is acceptable, but the only way to know for sure is to go up and fly through it.

Right now, the actions being taken are actually far more dangerous. Allowing a few flights through areas that look like they might be safe is very risky. And I'm certain that the "inspections" being done to look for damage are incomplete. The only way to inspect for damage from volcanic ash is to inspect every part of the airplane into which ash can penetrate, which essentially means the entire airframe. Nobody has had time to do that so far, so it is certain that nobody has done it. At the very least, the engines need to be completely disassembled, not just glanced at or partially disassembled. And every other part of the airplane that ash may touch needs to be checked, too.

The fact that a flight arrives safely with no noticeable problems does NOT mean that the ash had no effect. It may have caused damage that won't be apparent until several flights later.

In short, instead of going up and doing extensive, deliberate, careful tests with willing volunteers, it looks like airlines and the authorities are going to roll the dice with flights that attempt to avoid the heaviest ash concentrations, and declare them safe if the airplanes don't fall out of the sky. As time passes, they'll take more and more risks, and perhaps do more and more damage that will bring aircraft down after the ash is gone. That is what I call insanity.
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