Dear CRAB and all others who seem hell bent on trashing anyone who posts a note of caution.
For the record: I will fly when the UK Government states that in their considered opinion we can do so (I think the NS was operating yesterday) and then only if my Company wants me to (ie that there are no engine TBO insurance factors they need to respect).
As I have absolutley no idea how to assess the risks of volcanic ash I place my trust in those that do.
What a surprise that several days down the road you are all beginning to dig up various reasons why flying in this cloud (even in very small concentrations) is certainly bad for the aircraft, and may possibly lead to an incident.
CRAB - I understand from your posts that you are a SAR pilot. You have my sympathy. I have done HEMS myself and there is nothing worse than not being able to make the scene of the incident/accident, for whatever reason.
Foir NigelH, having spent 3 years of my life doing HEMS, never once failing to get airborne to react, but many times having to land or turn back due to WX I am more than capable of knowing where the risks are and how to mitigate them.
None of this equates to the standards of safety that my current passengers demand and deserve (even if at times they forget this).
Mitigation of risk - is just that. If the rewards outway the risks - get on with it. The curious issue here is that when CRAB and the HEMS guys talk about rewards - they mean HELPING PEOPLE IN NEED. I suspect your reward has a more commercial implication.
Complaining that there is a lack of resources to deal with this problem properly from the outset is just plain silly. What if a massive sunspot boils the NS. Have the goverment got enough resources in place for that!!!!
Call me uneducated but I had know real idea that we have a volcano so close (looking at the map its probably closer to me here in ABZ than London) until the damn thing burped it's unholy load into the sky.
Its better on this thread now that people are actually posting informative information about the nasties of volcanic ash rather than wining cos they can't go flying.
As a public transport pilot (CAT) our first and foremost responsibility is to the PAX we intend to fly - not to profit nor to selfish wants.
As more information becomes apparent I suspect better operating strategies can be developed but none of them should be based on getting airborne JUST TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
CRAB - if you have dust on the nose I would suspect that your Ginger-beers are boroscoping the donkeys to see whats going on inside. Is it an S92 or a Mil machine?