Whippersnapper,
Most of Europe appears to have taken the bit and started flying tentatively at least, are you saying they are all reckless fools? You have now backpeddled and tried to justify closure by claiming the cloud is worse over the UK even though it is clearly shown pretty much everywhere. At this rate you will still be sticking to your guns when the dust is falling on your head alone! I admire your tenacity but not your logic or common sense.
Tentative flights are fine, if frequent inspections are made, but a return to full scale ops
is reckless.
The problems in continental Europe will be less than in the UK for the reason I clearly explained - the plume passes over the UK in a narrow corridor before spreading east and west as it reaches the Channel, diffusing as it spreads. If you cannot grasp that, I pity you.
At no point have I back pedalled - you are claiming a false victory because you, like many others, can't understand the logic of the argument. I have maintained throughout that we simply don't know whether the ash levels are safe or not because too little research has been available. The evidence seems to support the view that it is unsafe, but those supporting a return to normal ops are keener to show traits of machismo than prudence or intelligence.
The severity of the implications of this risk demand that it be treated with the utmost seriousness and caution. It is one thing for an aircraft to have failures of all engines, but it is quite another to have dozens of simultaneous emergencies, with the ATC and airport saturation which would occur. Just imagine two or more aircraft needing to make glide or partial power approaches to the same airport at the same time, and other aircraft with damaged engines having to hold or divert for them. Do you really want to risk being a part of that?
As I said before, I really don't
know whether it's safe or not, and nor does anyone on here, but I'll hedge my bets with the cautious side, especially since they're the ones with the evidence to back them up. the old mantra of "if there's doubt" seems to be being wilfully ignored by many so called "professionals", adding weight to the companies' positions when they try to force us all to fly in unsafe circumstances and strengthening the management position of money over safety.