Volcanic ash stops flights

wolram

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8623364.stm

From the BBC.

billiards

Nothing of note here (London) from what I could see, then again, I live on the east side of a hill so my view of sunset is lame.

brewnog

Rubbish. I was supposed to be going to Ireland for the weekend. Booo!

*Frame Dragger*

Better no flights than glass forming in your turbines...

@turbo-1: No kidding! I used to work a bit at Hanscom AFB, and the old fighter-interceptors were going nonstop.

lisab

Quote by Borek

Planets in one line, volcanoes erupting, in 2012 world will come to an end, I tell ya.

And did anyone notice that the name of the volcano, Eyjafjallajoekull, is an anagram of: Jell-La, A Jay, Flu Joke! Which means...well...ok I don't know. But it will all become clear to us, I'm sure, as the fateful day approaches.

mheslep

Quote by Andre

We are waiting for that

It has just been decided that the Netherlands air space is closed to all air traffic.

Andre, don't these ash plumes concentrate mainly at high altitude, and thus wouldn't it be possible to have some aviation traffic fly at 8-12,000 ft for awhile, weather permitting? Edit: Or, could some of the jumbos climb over at ~45,000?

Andre

Quote by mheslep

Andre, don't these ash plumes concentrate mainly at high altitude, and thus wouldn't it be possible to have some aviation traffic fly at 8-12,000 ft for awhile, weather permitting?

I'm not sure about the logic of the spreading of the ash in three dimensions, but in the flying business, safety desicions are normally very conservative and pragmatic solutions like that are usually out of bounds.

mgb_phys

Quote by Borek

Planets in one line, volcanoes erupting, in 2012 world will come to an end, I tell ya.

See we told you the icelanders were terrorists (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7662827.stm) what's more a weapon of MASS destruction than a volcano!

The US could do more to help though - can't you pacify volcanoes by throwing people from Virginia into them?

No reason why a little volcano should stop British flights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9)

mheslep

Quote by Andre

I'm not sure about the logic of the spreading of the ash in three dimensions, but in the flying business, safety desicions are normally very conservative and pragmatic solutions like that are usually out of bounds.

Sure, but aviation flys around bad weather every day, weather that would be very dangerous if flown through. The trick here would be localizing the plume similarly. Maybe that can't be done.

Andre

Quote by mheslep

Sure, but aviation flys around bad weather every day, weather that would be very dangerous if flown through. The trick here would be localizing the plume similarly. Maybe that can't be done.

Yes, thunderstorms are clearly visible on weather radars which are operating in frequency ranges, optimized for reflecting water. Volcanic dust is usually dry.

Quote by mgb_phys

No reason why a little volcano should stop British flights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9)

That link states:

The crew decided to fly the ILS, Instrument Landing System, however, the glideslope was inoperative, so they flew the localizer as the first officer monitored the airport's DME (Distance Measuring Equipment). He then called out how high they should be at each DME step along the final track to the runway, creating a virtual glide slope for them to follow. It was, in Moody's words, "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse".

A bit off track but If you'd happen to fly an older generation jet without ILS, you would not know better than this is daily standard operation procedure, except that, flying solo, you don't have a first officer calling out altitudes and distances.

Anyway, Nobody is stopping the KLM either

Borek

Air space over northern Poland closed.

Getting to Kraków for funeral will be tricky.

jtbell

From http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/04/15...ex.html?hpt=T2

The prime minister of Norway was among those stranded by the closure of European air space.

Jens Stoltenberg, who was in the United States for President Obama's nuclear summit, is running the Norwegian government from the U.S. via his new iPad, press secretary Sindre Fossum Beyer said.

mgb_phys

Looks like the only thing flying over europe are some friends of mine at http://arsf.nerc.ac.uk/ especially funny because the better funded group at www.faam.ac.uk with a jet can't fly because it's being painted !!!

*Count Iblis*

Good that there were no jet planes when this happened

Borek

Space over Poland closed, with exception of Kraków and radom.

I wonder - do we know of a plot of number of volcanic eruptions and amount of ash ejected in the past? Yes, I am thinking about the subject that we can't discuss. Was the average amount of ash flying in the last 50 years different from the average? I don't want to start a discussion, but if someone can fill my curiosity, that'll be great.

dorlomin

Does anyone know the VEI of this erruption?

D H

Quote by mgb_phys

The US could do more to help though - can't you pacify volcanoes by throwing people from Virginia into them?

Correction #1: People from right next door to Virginia. Elected officials only; plain old ordinary citizens don't count.

Correction #2: You also missed the tossing of PF annual award winners into the volcano as a placative effect.

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wolram Blog Entries: 1 Recognitions: Gold Member	Volcanic ash stops flights http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8623364.stm From the BBC.

billiards	Nothing of note here (London) from what I could see, then again, I live on the east side of a hill so my view of sunset is lame.

brewnog Recognitions: Gold Member Science Advisor	Rubbish. I was supposed to be going to Ireland for the weekend. Booo!

Frame Dragger	Better no flights than glass forming in your turbines... @turbo-1: No kidding! I used to work a bit at Hanscom AFB, and the old fighter-interceptors were going nonstop.

Borek Admin	Air space over northern Poland closed. Getting to Kraków for funeral will be tricky.

mgb_phys Recognitions: Homework Help Science Advisor	Looks like the only thing flying over europe are some friends of mine at http://arsf.nerc.ac.uk/ especially funny because the better funded group at www.faam.ac.uk with a jet can't fly because it's being painted !!!

Count Iblis	Good that there were no jet planes when this happened