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Ash clouds threaten air traffic

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Old 27th Apr 2010, 10:42
  #2421 (permalink)  
 
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I gues ultimately your right.
CaptainPaddy

I do not know whether I and others are right or not so maybe add "ultimately HOPE your right"
Life is a risk and many things we do is about risk assessment someone obviously decided it was a tiny risk worth taking.

Pace

BTW have enjoyed your posts thanks
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Old 27th Apr 2010, 11:43
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Indeed you are right. Very nicely put, Pace
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Old 27th Apr 2010, 16:30
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What a con job it was!

This was the greatest example of bureaucratic backside-covering the world has seen. Thank heavens the politicians have now intervened.

Here is an volcano close-up video and pronunciation guide -


The Icelanders did not restrict how close to Eyjafjallajokull an aircraft can fly - the decision-making was left where it should have been left. in the cockpit.

How many lives were lost because patients could not get to their hospitals and doctors? How many because medications, organs, and radioactive isotopes were not delivered? How many were lost because people drove long distances instead of flying?

Let's hope the damage done on this occasion leads to a re-think about "nervous nelly" regulation.

Last edited by Boyd Munro; 27th Apr 2010 at 17:05.
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Old 27th Apr 2010, 17:37
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One awsome video of the Mt. Aye - ya - fyah - dla - jow - kudll ,eruption up close.
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Old 28th Apr 2010, 07:18
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Looks like I was right all along.

Please re-read my post nr. 819 posted on april 18th.

Looks like I was right all along!

Please read this article: "The ash cloud that never was: How volcanic plume over UK was only a twentieth of safe-flying limit and blunders led to ban."

As a Belgian, I do not know the reputation of the "Daily Mail", but please take the time to read the article. I think it's spot on!

Best regards,
Sabenaboy
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Old 28th Apr 2010, 13:50
  #2426 (permalink)  
 
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The Icelanders did not restrict how close to Eyjafjallajokull an aircraft can fly
Probably because the volcano spotters were VFR. Restriction from the ICAO Contingency Plan is that no IFR clearances will be given into contaminated area.
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Old 28th Apr 2010, 17:46
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Engine Costs

Do any beancounters read this forum? I am wondering about the effect of flying through an ash cloud that was sufficiently dispersed to not be an immediate danger to the particular flight but which would gravely shorten engine life. A poster has already said that it takes about ninety minutes to check an engine that may have been exposed to volcanic ash. This is after the ginger has finished his tea break, finished the must do job, and got his tools together. It would be risky to assume the aeroplane would be declared serviceable until the inspection was complete. Also, who is to judge, and on what data, that the aircraft was exposed to ash?

Can anyone shed any light on the costs involved? I am wondering if it was judged to be cheaper to ground everyone at least until the cost of not doing so was known and a method of forecasting the extent of the ash cloud had been developed.
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Old 28th Apr 2010, 18:00
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Dangerous Ash?

We as professional pilots know that commercial pressures have won out.
Where is the evidence to back up these new so called safe limits and who exactly measures them?
Its one thing for the public to be fooled where is the voice of reason from our own community. This problem will occur again NOW is the time for various pilot representatives to be vocal if the governing agencies wont protect the traveling public then surely we MUST!!
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Old 28th Apr 2010, 18:48
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We as professional pilots know that commercial pressures have won out.
Where is the evidence to back up these new so called safe limits and who exactly measures them?
Its one thing for the public to be fooled where is the voice of reason from our own community. This problem will occur again NOW is the time for various pilot representatives to be vocal if the governing agencies wont protect the traveling public then surely we MUST!!
Check with your local safety committe and ask what they have heard from ALPA/IFALPA, etc.

This is more than than engine testing, it also has to do with geological, weather and routing. Take that data and weigh it against the historical experience of what has been safe, what has been unsafe , and what corner of the spectrum are we in today. I suspect that this has already been done with all the parties in conjunction.

From my read most of the nail biting has to do with lack of knowledge about what corner are we in today, the known or the unknown?
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Old 28th Apr 2010, 22:36
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The FAA's current position on ash...

SAIB NE-10-28

Apparently the EASA will issue their position soon.

C2j
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 00:40
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They're not really saying anything
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 01:47
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Unhappy About Aviation color code of volcanic ash.

A question is asked from Japan.
We operation the helicopter (EC135) in Japan.
Since there is only zone of Eurocontrol, Safety Information Notice which EC135 manufacturer's Eurocopter took out should teach it.
The Meteorological Agency of Japan Aviation color code is not use.
Is Aviation color code of Eurocontrol and ICAO(USSG) unified?
As for Eurocontrol, zone 1:black zone, zone 2:red zone, and ICAO (USSG) are green, yellow, orange, and red.
To what is the definition about zone1 and zone2 of Eurocontrol specified?
Best Regards. pitchpitchjapjap

Eurocopter SIN2197-S-00(SUMMARY)
Due to the eruption of the volcano in Iceland EUROCOPTER has been contacted by many operators asking for
advice on how to proceed with their operation under these circumstances.
Flying in an atmosphere containing volcanic ash may affect the behaviour of the helicopter. Depending to the
variety of the particles (size, weight, density, chemical composition…) it may increase the probability of a partial
power loss, engine flame out, navigation and piloting instruments failure or other helicopter malfunctions. Flight in
such conditions may also decrease visibility and accelerate erosion of certain helicopter parts. In the past, on EC
helicopters, engine flame outs have been experienced after flight through industrial smoke.
As a consequence EUROCOPTER advises operators to avoid flight in area of high density volcanic ash
contamination (named zone 1 or black zone).
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 01:59
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The FAA's current position on ash...

SAIB NE-10-28
Excellent writing and a masterful release

now what was the question again?
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 10:08
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I love the way an event like this brings out the I was right all along brigade. Who cares! Bully for you.

Its easy for people to sit back and criticise when they don't have to step up and make the hard decisions. They don't get much harder than this.

With hind sight it was a very expensive over-reaction but in the future hopefully the data collected (and still being collected!!) and lessons learnt from the way the whole "crisis" was handled will prove invaluable.

Its like an aircraft accident. So many crucial lessons are taken from a disastrous event.
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 10:25
  #2435 (permalink)  
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Part of the problem is that, should a pilot make a wrong decision - particularly of this magnitude - then they are castigated, investigated, possibly prosecuted and more
i.e. held to account.

We are waiting......
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 13:38
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Its easy for people to sit back and criticise when they don't have to step up and make the hard decisions. They don't get much harder than this.

With hind sight it was a very expensive over-reaction but in the future hopefully the data collected (and still being collected!!) and lessons learnt from the way the whole "crisis" was handled will prove invaluable.

Its like an aircraft accident. So many crucial lessons are taken from a disastrous event.
Of course the above is all true, but many of us never considered that a decision of this magnitude would be taken by so few. it was anticpated that some air routes would be shutdown in a stair cased fashion and would be accomodatable by rerouting. The impact of this was so great that had the airlines themselves (IATA) been brought in right from the start I'm confident that they would have had all the experts on the conference phones within an hour.
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 15:10
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Pilots Only

Where is the empirical evidence from engine/airframe manufacturers to warrant anything but zero tolerance?
This situation is absolute madness where is the communication from airline pilots representatives worldwide?
This situation is possibly putting peoples lives at risk due to commercial expediency
Show the public the evidence.
The time to say and act is now before the next eruption!
If you are a professional pilot use this forum to voice your concerns
and if you ado not have any concerns PLEASE SAY WHY NOT HERE
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 16:07
  #2438 (permalink)  
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Originally Posted by lomapaseo
The impact of this was so great that had the airlines themselves (IATA) been brought in right from the start I'm confident that they would have had all the experts on the conference phones within an hour.
Uuumm, you've obviously not read through the thread. IATA were invited to provide input to ICAO when the VA guidance was being written. They didn't turn up, so the guidance was zero tolerance. When it was published IATA still didn't respond. Responding after the event is too late.

BD
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 16:49
  #2439 (permalink)  
 
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Uuumm, you've obviously not read through the thread. IATA were invited to provide input to ICAO when the VA guidance was being written. They didn't turn up, so the guidance was zero tolerance. When it was published IATA still didn't respond. Responding after the event is too late.

BD
Yes, thanks for that perspective. I was thinking about immediately following the latest eruption and hours before they shut down most of the air routes. But I accept that if IATA had laid the groundwork earlier via ICAO this might have had a different outcome.


Perhaps I read the thread thoroughly as did many others but still don't get a passing grade, but what the heck that's what discussion forums are all about or we all flunk
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Old 29th Apr 2010, 19:52
  #2440 (permalink)  
 
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Claire

I'n not a pilot. Of course in you view that makes anything I say invalid. So be it.

Just a few things you ought to know. You use the term empirical evidence. It means specifically evidence obtained via senses. Capt Moody has a lot of empirical evdience that flying through ash is bad for prolonged flight and engine function. As empirical evidence goes its very convincing. I'm sure Capt Moody had all the empirical evidence he needed when all four engines on his 747 went out. He wasnt the only pilot who experienced empirical evidence that volcanic ash and engines do not go well together. So empirical evidence means that flying into ash clouds can upset your afternoon somewhat. apologies for the sarcasm.


OK so what is needed is quantitiave analysis - we know that aircraft can do some very scary things in volcanic ash. If I have to nail home my point, that is empirical evidence. The next step from empirical evidence is that a problem is known, so how severe is the problem? Quantitive analysis means to evaluate how much of the nasty stuff which coats turbine blades with glass and blocks pitot tubes makes the aircraft unsafe and secondarily, makes the components of the aircraft liable to failure earlier than design specs. My concern is that the quanititive analysis should not have economic pressures applied on it. I'm all ears to hear construcitve quanititive analysis of the volcoanic ash problem.
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