Iceland Volcano

I am supposed to be going to the US on Monday on business, I hope flights are back on then.

I feel sorry for those people whose flights have been cancelled but the flight I am booked on only had 2 spare seats on it when it was booked.

I hope I don't get "bumped"

Jono

Why didn't Sniper tell us that this was going to happen ?

quote:

Originally posted by FlipTop:
Why didn't Sniper tell us that this was going to happen ?

He did in his mind.

Jono

There were 2 long haul flights diverted to Manchester and 1 empty plane long haul out of Machester today.
I doubt the military have grounded their flights and I know search and rescue haven't, they said so on the news.

At the end of this day I was supposed to be reunited with my trusty NAIM kit, now it looks like I have to wait a day longer (or godforbid even more), while I'm stuck here in Budapest. Any naimees from Budapest here?

quote:

I doubt the military have grounded their flights

Oh yes they have
Benson - Puma & Merlin choppers
Brize Norton - L-1011, VC-10 & C-17
All shut down

Even the in-flight refuelling tankers are not moving, so I guess nothing or not much else is moving either
Emergency flights are still working, police & air ambulance choppers out of Benson are flying, but very noticeably less than normal

All we can hope for now is that Katla doesn't get aggravated any time soon. If that one blows as well, worst case scenario, lots of Europe wouldn't get a summer.

It's the Revenge of Gaia!

Didn't have this trouble until the LHC got up to speed.

Just seen a couple of reports on Sky. The volcano activity is going to increase and volcanic ash is now settling in the Thames Valley. I suppose it won't be long before some addled Silly Man In A Pointy Hat tells us that it's all because we haven't done enough genufliction lately, or we've been too nice to gay people, or somesuch. I wonder if Boots do facemasks?

I heard the volcano is getting more active, if this is true, then this is unlikely to be just a few days of disruption.

What happens with the weather systems is probably the main thing, at the moment they are cycling the high air East and South, if that changes then flights will start again, but if this weather system settles for a while, then it might be time to look at rail, car hire and ferries.

I have a friend in Cyprus at the moment, due to fly back Tuesday, I doubt that will happen. The backlog will be cleared first, and that only once the high air clears.

They are extending the airport closures all the time now. Reckon they will have officially closed them all until Monday by this evening.

Jamie, you are spot on about it being weather dependent. The further problem being that it would take several days of a changed pattern to get things back to normal.

Im supposed to be going to Cyprus at the beginning of May, not panicing yet, but I don't think anyone really knows how long this might last.

Even after we have more south westerly winds to blow the ash away from Europe, the ash may continue to circle the globe at high altitudes and high latitudes (ie close to the north Pole) for quite a long time. This may prevent transatlantic flights from flying on the more efficient close to the pole routes. Flights will have to take the longer southern route using more fuel and time.

So LHR to LA in 14 hours or more and not 10 or 11 hours.

quote:

So LHR to LA in 14 hours or more and not 10 or 11 hours.

So we can look forward to a petrol, volcanic ash, longer staff hours supplement then?

If the airlines cannot get a dispensation from the need to offload everyone at the first port of call in the US then routing thru Bermuda or one of the non US Caribbean Islands for refueling - anything to avoid Miami on the way to LA, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver.

This will give you either an extra stopover location or an extra hour or so on the ground.

Bugger my flight to Chicago tomorrow is now cancelled. So thats me to the back of the queue

Any ideas other than time travel greatfully accepted.

Jono

quote:

Originally posted by Jono 13:
Bugger my flight to Chicago tomorrow is now cancelled. So thats me to the back of the queue

Any ideas other than time travel greatfully accepted.

Jono

quote:

Originally posted by Absolute:
All we can hope for now is that Katla doesn't get aggravated any time soon.

"The eruptions of the comparatively small Eyjafjallajkull glacier volcano
in Iceland have historically preceded massive eruptions by the more
feared Mount Katla. Experts are concerned that the present volcanic
eruption could trigger activity at Mount Katla, which is potentially
much more dangerous. Its last major eruption was in 1918. Icelandic
volcanologists consider it plausible that Katla may erupt, and that is
why they are monitoring Katla very closely right now. There are
eruption channels between Eyjafjallajkull and Katla and magma could
shoot into the Katla volcano. Katla might only need a nudge. Effects of
Katla's eruption would put the present air travel chaos in the shade,
inflicting much greater economic losses upon Europe. Deposits from the
ash cloud formed by Katla when it erupted spectacularly in 1755 can
still be found in peat bogs in Shetland and other parts of northern
Europe.

Iceland is a volcanic hot spot on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is the
dividing line between the Eurasian and North American continental
plates. The country's three major volcanoes -- Hekla, Katla and
Grimsvotn -- lie along this boundary. Altogether there are 35 active
volcanoes on and around the island. Icelandic settlement reaches back
to the late 9th century AD, with three documented instances of an
eruption in the Eyjafjallajkull volcano preceding an eruption in Katla,
but 22 documented eruptions in the much more active Katla in the same
period. This connection has not been lost by geologists observing the
disaster. Icelandic history is rich of tales of the might of the
much-feared Katla volcano.

Eyjafjallajkull, which is currently filling the sky above northern
Europe with ash, is a minor player in Icelandic terms -- though its last
eruption lasted for more than a year, from December 1821 to January
1823. It began erupting soon after midnight on March 20th this year and
the first eruption lasted for three weeks. It erupted for a second time
on Wednesday April 14th and the lava is now coming out ten times faster
than the last eruption. This eruption has many of the same
characteristics as the eruptions in the 19th century. Whether or not
the eruptions go on for nearly a year as the past eruptions did, only
time will tell:

1. Some experts suggest that the present eruption could soon start
tapering off; yet
2. Some leading volcanologists have warned that eruptions from
Icelandic volcanic activity could last for up to a year.

We can expect the volcanic ash already spewing out of Iceland to hang
around in the skies for the next couple of weeks with many planes
grounded across many European countries, but if Katla goes then it might
last for months. Back in 1783 another volcano in Iceland caused thick
fog across Europe and even spread as far as the US, for eight months!"

quote:

Originally posted by Julian H:

quote:

Originally posted by Jono 13:
Bugger my flight to Chicago tomorrow is now cancelled. So thats me to the back of the queue

Any ideas other than time travel greatfully accepted.

Jono

Tempting, ferry to France and drive to Spain was one choice.

Jono

KLM, Lufthansa, Air Berlin & Air France have all flown test flights around the ash layers & have reported back that nothing appears to be affecting the planes. This is subject to a more detailed forensic examination that will be confirmed later today, but it seems the various European NATS have over reacted.
I wonder if the NATS services will be asked to compensate the airlines @ £100m per day in UK alone & the affected passengers @ ????

quote:

KLM, Lufthansa, Air Berlin & Air France have all flown test flights around the ash layers & have reported back that nothing appears to be affecting the planes. This is subject to a more detailed forensic examination that will be confirmed later today, but it seems the various European NATS have over reacted.
I wonder if the NATS services will be asked to compensate the airlines @ £100m per day in UK alone & the affected passengers @ ????

Mike, if you were in charge and it was your call you would resume flights? Youy really think it was overeaction based on some early test flights?

Cheers

Jim

NATS should have consulted with airlines & tested first.
The ash is heavy in the area close to Iceland, & yes its is a serious danger zone.
But in most wider European areas is probably nothing more than a (previously untested) 5k to 10k feet dust hazard.
Commercial aircraft fly above that. Even the city hoppers LHR to Paris Brussels & Amsterdam are at 18k to 20k
KLM & Lufthansa & not stupid, they are not in the business of wrecking $5m engines, lets see if their opinions hold up.

UUUUmMMMMM don't forget to have your car filters etc serviced. When Mt St Helens "blew" many cars were damaged with clogged air filters, oil and brakes. Tho it's not as intense on the ground there as it was in OR , WA, ID. The good thing is this ash adds minerals to vast areas of soil and plants grow better. Another layer of dark stuff for archeologists to discover eons from now.

quote:

NATS should have consulted with airlines & tested first.

hmmm....i'm not 100% certain about this, but...I seem to recal that NATS changed from a CAA managed service to a private organisation, owned by a group of airlines themselves.

As I said, I'n not certain about this so will go and look up details.

Apologies in advance if i've got this wrong.

cheers

Don