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Ash clouds threaten air traffic

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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:01
  #1221 (permalink)  
 
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Hi all,

personally I´m more on the restrictive side. Nobody knows exactly how to compute this "cloud* and how to deal with different concentrations in it. In the last 50 years we never had such a occurence over Central Europe.
I'm wondering, beside the reports of the finn F18´s, have there been any reports or remarks from flight crews around, regarding volcano activities over Europe in the last few day? Do some crew encouter subtle indications of ash in the air, especially in the night before grounding?

thanks

Bernhard (LSZH)
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:03
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Katla

Why no media coverage of the Katla seismographs going crazy? Is it significant?

Órói á stöðvum við Eyjafjallajökul
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:04
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Apologies to all I may have offended - it's just getting very difficult to track what's happening. A little bit of "Less is More" might help - focus on where your input actually gets anyone.

I think we need substantial information from "The Authorities" rather than innumerable personal views [however valid many of them may be].
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:07
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BA 747

BA 747 on its way back into cardiff, now over western Ireland
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:07
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Totally agree. What is needed is data and those who govern the airspace to justify their decisions based on that data. Surely that is logical ?
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:09
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BA 747 on its way back into cardiff, now over western Ireland
the BA test plane has now landed in CWL and i imagine undergoing checks.
Thank you for sharing that information.
BTW, they are called aircraft, not planes.
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:12
  #1227 (permalink)  
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Turboprops and ash

"......but could it be said that they are somewhat less vulnerable to damage from the ash cloud"
All gas turbines are vulnerable to the minerals in this cloud. I suppose the mass airflow through a turboprop is somewhat less than through a turbofan. So the effects may be reduced per hour flown compared to a fan.

I await admonishment with trepidation.
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:13
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Aha - a 'hard decision'. Are you quite sure that shouldn't be 'tough'?

1985 - you are Gordon Brown.

Meetings will now be convened all over Europe amongst aviation authorities to decide the best way of agreeing a party line to allow a relaxation of restrictions without openly admitting the massive over-reaction in the first place.
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:14
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What is needed is data and those who govern the airspace to justify their decisions based on that data. Surely that is logical ?
I find it a bit funny to outfit testplanes with probes to fly into the cloud (as is being done at slowmo speed in Germany) to measure a particle concentration to then calculate or deduct a risk percentage for engines to fail/pitots to clog while aircraft have already flown through it and have been assessed. It is like proving the obvious.

Nic
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:18
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@ Admiral 346:

It could be rather helpful to know what the aircraft has survived, yes? For the future, like?
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:20
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hartman and simple solution

I tryed to find out what mr Hartman ment with his statement about NASA.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/04...ful-study-says.

2 PAGES

Between the text are statements from nasa and in contradiction what Nasa could say about the nowday situation to my opinion.

Most interesting question of the moment is how much dust is within the bandwith of responsible flight operation.

I think not a easy answer to formulate, the maintenance is an issue and safety. so there should be 2 answers.
1.for meantenance in fact financial issue ask the company
2.safety i think is easy. actually there is no risk to my opinion.

The risk of not follow maintenance when the equipment (aircraft) is used in dust Thats the risk for this moment. And what different maintenance and inspection !!

Its a simple point of vieuw, many times for difficult things can be found easy solutions.
Separate the fleat used in dusty conditions and not dusty conditions and separate the maintenance programm.
WILL IT SECURE THE SAFETY OF PEOPLE FLYING IS THE QUESTION

is that basicly a solution?
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:21
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the BA test AIRCRAFT has now landed in CWL and i imagine undergoing checks
Checking the time, is this the same aircraft which hasn't yet landed at Cardiff?
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:24
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Sunfish

At the risk of squandering what little credibility I have by posting on this thread, I need to explain something to some of you....

The fact that someone can make a "Test flight" and return the aircraft in one piece after exposure to some level of volcanic ash proves absolutely nothing. Detailed examination of the hot section of the engine is required, probably right down to the microscopic level and including sectioning of first stage turbine blades and nozzle guide vanes to check the cooling passages for contamination.

I'm not sure what turbine blade life is these days, but it must be of the order of at least 6000 hours plus, and probably well over 10,000 engine hours. If volcanic ash contamination compromises the figures for blade life in the slightest then airlines cannot fly because they are buying themselves a simply massive maintenance cost increase in the future. Furthermore, there would not be enough blade and vane manufacturing capacity available to satisfy demand.

To put it another way, I can take the air filter off my car and still run it up and down the road today and nothing will happen, however I would be wrong to conclude from that experiment that the provision of air filters by the car manufacturer was unnecessary overkill designed merely to boost profits.

To put it another way, If the engines will get their lives shortened by dust contamination, then the aircraft cannot fly, at least not at todays ticket prices anyway.
This is a long term business consideration in decision making and not a short term concern to salvaging your current customer base

To put it another way, the operators already make decisions like this on a real time basis everyday.

Perhaps we can revisit this months from now.
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:25
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It's approaching STU at FL150 inbound to EGFF.
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:26
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Sinking Feeling....

Safety is the number one priority for us all in the industry.

Of course, this unfolding drama is doing untold damage to our industry, however I am getting a bad feeling (especially listening to Euro Controls press conference and taking into account all these TEST flights by legacy airlines), these commercial operators could be attempting to persuade the powers that be to relax the restrictions already in place, just for the sake of reducing the rate of cash burn, thus having a detrimental effect on safety.

There is plenty of evidence published that states volcanic ash does untold damage to a turbine engine, and can lead to multiple engine failures. KLM Lufthansa and British Airways are not exactly independent entities.

I agree in the authorities decision to ground aircraft, especially considering the severe risk associated with volcano ash. I just hope their resolve continues and will not allow the "BIG BOYS" in the airline industry to pull sway on what effects ALL aircraft sharing the same airspace.


I hope someone can ease my concerns, your comments welcome.


High Low
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:27
  #1236 (permalink)  
 
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Originally Posted by TRC
I think MPN11 is a bit irritable today.
Too bloody right - I'm supposed to be flying to the USA on Tuesday!

But that's not the point - it's getting incredibly difficult to absorb substantial info with the innumerable posts on what I might call 'fringe issues'.

This is a BIGGIE. Tens of thousands of crew and pax are screwed, jobs are on the line [or possibly over the line], commerce is being damaged ... and frankly the individual movement of a single aircraft, waypoint by waypoint, doesn't seem to help develop an intellectual perception of where we are.

The Eurocontrol statement possibly will.
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:30
  #1237 (permalink)  
 
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Angel

The bottom line is ..........It's not safe to fly through volcanic ash, and no one can predict with any confidence where it is likely to be present at any given time.
Accept it and deal with it, if it hurts your pocket.. tough
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:30
  #1238 (permalink)  
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Too bloody right.....
........- it's getting incredibly difficult to absorb substantial info with the innumerable posts on what I might call 'fringe issues'.

This is a BIGGIE.
I reccommend a lie down in a darkened room with a cold flannel on your brow.
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:36
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so bbc LIVE news reporting it 12 miles out, cameras waiting to watch it land and taxi in, so hana994, i'm guessing you don't really work at Cardiff?

Just goes to prove how much crap some people talk on here!
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Old 18th Apr 2010, 19:37
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Some brighter News

According to a weather forecast on TV this afternoon, there is a STORM brewing in the North Atlantic which should bring strong south westerly winds west of Ireland by Wednesday pm. It is anticipated that the ash clouds could be blown well north of European airspace.

I know I know they have been known to be wrong but we can only hope.
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