Airborne Radiation Threat
 

...probably time for the question to be raised: is there a threat to operating aircraft on the Japan/North Pacific routes with the obvious threat from radiation that seems to be developing? Thoughts? :ooh:

If one of the reactors blows up or there is a massive leak in one of them , it is guranteed it will fry your ass even above FL350. :mad: :mad: wont be pretty !!! , I am not going anywhere near it :=:=:=:=:=:=:=

it was reported the No 2 reactor contain vessel pressure dropped from 3 atmosphere to 1 atmosphere and there was an internal explosion more than half off fuel rods exposed and melting.
US carrier group detected higher than normal radiation levels 160 km off shore and has moved further north.

Sadly it would appear the containment vessel is now breached and significant radiation could be leaking.

A northerly wind is blowing from the site so narita an tokyo in drirect path of any potential fallout.
If you have any friends rostered for narita I would strongly suggest reporting UF. As the inept corporate safety have no clue as to the potential damage to the health of crew particularly the younger crew members.

Gentlemen. It is now becoming rapidly more dangerous to be anywhere near this area....or downwind. It appears highly likely that the reactor core has been breached. This will now introduce highly dangerous radioactive particles into the air. At the very least CX should consider stopping any further crews heading to Japan. This could prove to be as catastrophic as Chernobyl. There is news being released minute by minute...and none of it is good. If you have friends in Japan, it would be wise to get them out. This will not end well...

recommend monitoring now tv channel 710
NHK is now broadcasitng predominantly in english and has the most up to date info.

NHK reporting higher levels of cesium in Tokyo. 22 x usual level...and that a no fly zone over Fukushima and a 30km radius around it is being imposed, according to the Japanese government. That is not a good sign at all.

According to Reuters Air China have cancelled flights to Tokyo today....Cathay is "closely monitoring" this as an opportunity to make more obscene profits....:}

According to other threads in Downunder JQ have stopped overnights in NRT and all US carriers have stopped flying to Japan?

Come on AOA, this is what we really need you for.

Also, shouldn't every CX KA A/C that's flown through Japanese airspace be checked for contamination? Just as a precaution. The USS Ronald Regan and some of it's helo's were contaminated and needed a wash down, now they've moved further away!!

Get a "no fly zone" in place for the union members, let the non members negotiate for themselves. So tired of carrying the spineless jelly fish along.

CX in true conservative style:

Rathern than taking there own lead, waiting for somebody else to make the decision......I mean didn't anybody notice that the Japanese government is too busy right now to talk to foreign airlines?

IAEA Update on Japan Earthquake


Reactors 1, 2 and 3 are now cold. (safe)

Reactor 4's fire is now out BUT they are still working to reduce the temp and presumably stop the earlier reported Radiation leaks.

Mmmm

Crew union refusing to even do transit flights, abandoning thousands of passengers wanting to escape the situation. Probably not the best PR move...

And I have 3 rostered flights to Tokyo in the next 2 weeks, can't wait :bored:

Confirmation on the Daiichi reactors
 

Looking over the link, there seems to be two Fukushima locations. From the article linked by Nitpicker (I added the bold):

The one that has had the explosions, is still causing issues, and not cool, but both locations do have ongoing evacuation warnings, in addition to the no-fly zone.

Actually Lufthansa has diverted flights from Tokyo to Nagoya and Osaka

Swiss International Air Lines has interim stop to Hong Kong on its route to Tokyo in order to shorten turnaround times in the Japanese capital

Austrian Airlines said its NRT-Vienna flights would make a stop at Seoul Incheon to allow crews to layover in South Korea instead of Japan.

HOWEVER, Hong Kong's flagship airline Cathay Pacific said Tuesday it would keep flying to and from Tokyo

...and of course, on CX's home page, there is now a notice telling us that there is 'much misunderstanding about nuclear radiation' (implying that of course we don't know what's good for our own health). Only those sitting on top of the reactor are in any danger...the rest of us should just stop complaining and get on with it..... :mad:

o... yea... then why not those sitting at the office operate the flights and proof to us that is sooooooo safe to operate and stay there?!

...on the other side of the world...
 

The United Airlines ALPA leaders sent out a message today to their pilots stating the union's position. For brevity, I have cut out a small section of it:

If you believe that your safety and welfare will be at risk by flying to Narita, you should advise the company (your flight office) of this fact and refuse the assignment. Further, the Association will support, to its fullest extent, any pilot who refuses an assignment to Narita under the current conditions and it is the vehement position of the Association that no pilot be disciplined or penalized for exercising what they believe to be the protection their health.

The Standard, Wednesday 16th March
 

"Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union urged the management to stop requiring crew members of Japan bound fights to stay overnight amind fears of radiation contamination. A spokesman for the carrier said it is safe to continue normal operations, including letting cabin crew stay overnight in Tokyo, but it will make changes if required."

Yeah right!

The article is headed by a photo of a radiation detector in Tokyo showing what looks like a 0.6 milliseverts reading.

How are the aftershocks affecting Tokyo? Are overnighting crews getting decent rest?

Safety first! :rolleyes: