I don't think this would be an end of check, running late, management driven stamp off. I think that it is a little too visible to suggest that contamination would be ignored.

I think all interested paries need to put financial interests aside and take advice from the Meteorology Scientists and Volcanic experts. They don't tell me how to fly and I won't tell them they are wrong.
Safety first....end of :ok:

Can I see ash at 800 km/hr? Well, irrelevant as that question may be, I can see waterclouds flying even faster. So...

Anyway, we were talking about the invisible stuff which may or may not affect the engine after a few months. Right?

Unless I've missed it, I'm surprised there has been no comment here on this report .... F-16 engine damage

update
 

BBC News - Volcano cloud as it happens: 19 April

This on the BBC live update page a few minutes ago
"1207 (GMT time) Nato fighter jets have suffered engine damage after flying through volcanic ash cloud, a senior US official has said. The official gave few details except to say that a build-up of glass was found in the jet engines."

"1209 The BBC's Lorna Gordon in Iceland says:
The top of the ash cloud reaching into the sky has lowered. It is no longer registering on weather radar and scientists estimate its maximum height is now around 3,000-4,000m. Mush less ash is now being released into the atmosphere compared to the beginning of this eruption and scientists say they believe the volcanic activity may now be entering a different phase.'

Too mush Brennivin or a particular kind of ash?



Mickjoebill

BBC news just reporting that "Western European" F16's suffered engine damage?

Anybody?

BBC news stating that the eruption is showing signs of abatement.

On a lighter note to quote BBC R4 at the weekend 'the lib dems winning an election debate and volcanoes erupting in the north. Surely two of three signs of the apocalypse'

Send the link to Willie Walsh, he might start to wake up to the reality and stop squealing about profits :=



I can't beleive he thinks this is some sort of scientific proof that it's safe to fly anywhere in the vicinity of the ash

Volcanic ash: Willie Walsh joins British Airways test flight | Public Sector Travel

Wait a moment. A US official talks about Western European F16's? Are you sure this 'yank' is not confusing it with the F18?

has there been any input from rolls-royce, CFM, International Aero Engines et al? surely their own in-house testing (if they have conducted any) should provide answer as to what the safe limit of dust ingestion is. This is assuming they have actually been asked...

Mark Pilling:
Statement from CANSO - some good news at last?

WELCOME NEWS FOR GLOBAL AVIATION: EUROPEAN AIRSPACE LIKELY TO RESUME OPERATIONS TUESDAY MORNING

CANSO, the Global Voice of ATM, has welcomed the decision by European air traffic control organisations to recommend resuming flights by 8am UTC Tuesday morning (20th April) as “welcome news for airlines and passengers around the world”.

CANSO Director General Graham Lake said: “Indications are that European airspace will start to reopen on Tuesday morning, which is welcome news for airlines and passengers around the world. But we should caution that it will take several days for operations to return to normal. The precise extent to which European airspace will be opened is also still subject to individual government approval.

Air traffic control organisations across the globe are working hard to resume flights as soon as practicable and we commend them for their efforts and cooperative spirit.”

Ireland's RTÉ has a bit more on the NATO story:

12.05 A buildup of glass has been found in the jet engine of a NATO fighter plane in Europe, a senior US official said.

'Allied F-16s were flying and they did find glass buildup inside the engines,' the official told reporters in Brussels, clarifying that the ash had affected one aircraft.


RTÉ News: LIVE - Travel Updates

AndoniP of course! According to our managers they are in continuous talk with CFM, the engine manufacturer and such.

F16 engines are not high bypass turbofans, so don't expect the to behave in a similar way.

Good point to which i have been berated for not trawling through pages of mostly drivel driven by people who know or dont know (depending on your view point).

I think you'll find the aircraft in question is actually D-CALM

NERC Airborne Research and Survey Facility - Aircraft

canceled flights out of St Johns Newfoundland
 

Flights were canceled today out of St Johns Newfoundland due to ash clouds there.

Atmospheric research Aircraft (ARA)
 

Anyone know if the BAe146-301 Atmospheric research Aircraft (ARA) has been involved in all this??

Directflight - Atmospheric Research

f16 or not all gas turbine engine have a similar core so high bypass or not ash will still react the same

The ash is forecast to reach the American east coast by 1800 GMT today, which might scupper any transatlantic flights