I think HIALS questions are valid, and really think the personal "piss taking" by goobledick on the previous page is ridiculous.
Are Qantas and Virgin the safest airlines in the world? Are they the only ones who operate near volcanic ash? Do they know something i dont?
These questions are valid, because not all airlines are reacting the same way.
I believe that some of the international airlines are carrying extra fuel and descending early to avoid the ash. The density of the cloud is then irrelevant, as you are not in it.
Why doesn't Qantas do that. Can they not afford the fuel??? Do they think the Cloud height information is inaccurate?
I would like to know so that I can learn. Maybe my company and myself are missing something. I flew over an ash cloud in Indonesia a couple of days ago. 10 minutes behind a Qantas 747.
All valid questions and I think HIALS must be a pilot of international experience, because I am, and I was asking EXACTLY the same questions.
Balthazar_777