Ash clouds threaten air traffic

[Pace]

GarageYears

I read this report before but it is not a scientific study. All it basically says is that the aircraft was flying at NIGHT. That in itself is odd for a scientific flight? Why do the flight at night when the crew cannot see what they are flying into?

The only indication was the ash sensing equiptment on the aircraft which gave an ash indication.

The aircraft was checked on landing but with NO indications of an ash encounter on the initial inspections.

So much so that they continued for another 65 hrs of flight before the engines were stripped and damage discovered.

There is nothing to say that the ash encounter was the one they suspected. It may have occurred at a later time or an earlier time in a dense ash encounter.

This was a research aircraft which goes into these areas on purpose!
There are obvious cautions to take flying anywhere near a serious volcano.

One dont do it at night, make the areas no go at night.
Two I would imagine fly at very low engine settings in those zones.

There have never been any fatalities caused by ash encounters which is more than can be said for encounters with other weather phenomina or natural phenomina.

We dont ground aircraft in the bird migration seasons yet many aircraft have been downed by birds with fatalities caused by bird ingestion.

Thunderstorms, hail storms, severe turbulence etc have all downed aircraft with resultant fatalities but NOT ASH.

There are two types of threat in dispersed ash a threat to life which has not occurred yet in even dense ash encounters and a threat to the aircraft owners pockets.

The threat to the owners pockets is their choice? and not ours to judge over.

I see that Heathrow alone lost £29 million in the few days the airport closed. Who knows what the airlines lost but it was massive.

Yes have guidlines on how to operate near ash areas that is sensible but ground the whole of northern Europe???

As another poster said "life is a risk" otherwise we might as well stay in bed lock the doors and die of inactivity.

Pace