TAD

How's the tunnel? Wx weird here 23C one day, next day 0C and snow flurries!!
Will pay you a visit in the Summer with some "tunnel tips" eg reclining chair and bottle of plonk.

OTB,
No problem,look forward to it.:ok:
I see that the airspace over the Orkneys and Shetlands are looking a bit yellow again.So much for the trumpet blowing that the airspace was clear enough and it was all an over reaction.
Mother nature is still clearing her throat.:hmm:

First it was "Don't eat the yellow snow" now "Don't breathe the yellow air" ?

Tests on ash show volcano flight ban was right - Herald Scotland | News | Home News

"Some critics questioned whether it was justified, but now the new scientific report published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes it was.

Researchers analysed samples of ash from the volcano and found they were capable of causing an air disaster.
The fragments remained sharp and abrasive even after attempts to blunt the particles by stirring them in water.
They would have sandblasted aircraft windows, making them impossible to see through, and could have stalled engines.
The report is at odds with claims made by airlines after European airspace was closed last year.
Some operators said that safety measures imposed by the semi-privatised air traffic control organisation, Nats, were an over-reaction."

The researchers, led by Dr Sigurdur Gislason from the University of Iceland, wrote: “The very sharp, hard particles put aircraft at risk from abrasion on windows and body and from melting in jet engines. In the lab, ash particles did not become less sharp during two weeks of stirring in water, so airborne particles would remain sharp even after days of interaction with each other and water in clouds. Thus, concerns for air transport were well-grounded.”


BD

Not only that BD, chances are that the 'ash' was also accompanied by an often overlooked gaseous element.
CO2, HCl, SO2, H2SO4, are all usually present in volcanic clouds, and not good if inhaled by fight crew/pax. Folks who investigate volcanoes generally wear breathing apparatus.
Welcome back off leave by the way.