Volcanic ash discussion here please!

cml387

Now descending from Fl150 over Fethard on Sea towards Cardiff

Foggy43

I listned in on 131.150mhz then Speedbird 9156 went Oceanic on 5.649mhz. Routed to Devol and returned. It reached the Shanwick boundry and handed back to Shannon on 131.15 but surprisingly decended from 40,000ft to 25,000ft and passed to Shannon Lower Level 124.7mhz. Now decended to 19,000ft. I did hear the crew request this decent so as to 'recover'. No idea what that meant. Since it was now under Lower Level Control I went outside for a visual and luckily enough it flew over me in Soth East Limerick at 2010 and requested a decent to 15,000ft. 10 minutes later it was handed over to London where Speedbird 9156 requested Runway 12 in Cardiff rather than Runway 30. They could not land in Cardiff until 2044hrs but had clearance for Runway 30. The crew seemed to be applying a little pressure for Runway 12 instead.

What surprised be was I could hear both sides outgoing on 131.15mhz and on 5.649mhz but could not hear the a/c when handed back to 131.150mhz. Could hear both sides on 124.7 and naturally only the a/c on the London frequency 129.375mhz.

Anyone else listen in?

kevinmcc

I'm based in the US and I've been called every day since Friday to be told not to come in to work (airline ground staff), have to take it off unpaid too which isn't so good.

Meanwhile they're telling passengers to stay in no higher than a 3 star and to receipt their meals and hotel and that customer relations will reimburse it - too bad they aren't as kind to their employees :mad:

Tabnabs

KLM are really piling on the pressure to get things moving again.

KLM Dispatches Three Freight Flights To Test Safety

18 April 2010

NETHERLANDS – Dutch carrier KLM has dispatched three cargo flights, two to Sharjah and one to Bangkok. The intention is to test on an actual route the risk to aircraft operating in European airspace.

The move comes after Lufthansa, KLM and British Airways have all carried out test flights throughout the day to examine whether their aircraft engines show signs of damage from flying in the ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Both KLM and Lufthansa have so far stated that these flights showed no cause for concern.

Pressure has been mounting through the day from the airline industry for the EU authorities to reassess the danger of flying in volcanic ash, which they say are overly strict in comparison to other areas of the world where these conditions would not be an issue and which aircraft routinely operate in. Should the freight flights prove to have no problems it will be an extra argument for the airlines to resume operations.

However, there is still no guarantee that passenger flights will be allowed to operate in the near future, and governments are now examining how to bring citizens home from around the world, with the British examining the possibility of using the Royal Navy to ferry people from Spain or France.

source

adamski8

cloud is heading towards north american airspace now, it would be interesting to see how they deal with it!

pclancy

They'll probably try and shoot it.

Cookie_Monster

The move comes after Lufthansa, KLM and British Airways have all carried out test flights throughout the day to examine whether their aircraft engines show signs of damage from flying in the ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano

I wonder did they provide the pilots with parachutes, just in case

crisco10

We're hearing lots from the airlines now but not much from Airbus, RR, Pratt etc. Be more interested in their views than the airlines.

according to a.net, there is an Airbus test A340 flying around europe at the moment..

Dacian

crisco10 wrote: »

We're hearing lots from the airlines now but not much from Airbus, RR, Pratt etc. Be more interested in their views than the airlines...

Absolutely. The airlines are saying they are best suited to judge safety, that may well be but the engine and aircraft manufacturers are even better suited to doing so.

Looking at radarvirtuel.com: Currently there are 4 aircraft over or nearing Irish airspace, Lufthansa A330 at 36000 ft over Drogheda, Lufthansa A340 at 36000 ft over Wexford, 2 more A340 following the first.

Foggy43

131.150mhz has been quite busy today. This afternoon it was mainly KLM and Lufthansa heading west. Now it is the Speedbirds heading east and being handed over to Scottish. Assurances being given that LHR and LGW are still closed. Using Scottish alternatives.

Shortly there should be an Aer Lingus A330 from Malage landing in Shannon. 1915 expected. 4 empty Aer Lingus A320's landed earlier strictly for positioning.

Back to my scanner.......

Avgas

Hi Foggy, question for you or anybody OUT THERE don't know from listening or any inside track:

Are Aer Lingus planning on flying from Dublin, tomorrow morning.....their website is still saying those flights are 'live' and not cancelled...the official IAA/DAA position is that the DUB is closed till 20.00hrs today.....leaving it late to know about tomorrow morning!

robinph

Dacian wrote: »

Looking at radarvirtuel.com: Currently there are 4 aircraft over or nearing Irish airspace, Lufthansa A330 at 36000 ft over Drogheda, Lufthansa A340 at 36000 ft over Wexford, 2 more A340 following the first.

They were saying on Beeb news earlier that UK airspace was open above 20,000ft, and they got quite excited when they spotted some contrails going above Heathrow.

Avgas

At 18,40hrs RTE news report all Aer Lingus cancelled till 1pm tomorrow Thursday 21st.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0420/travelupdates.html

scudzilla

There's currently a BA 767 circling over Liverpool, it's from Calgary and it's destination is Heathrow.
Now it was due to land at 19:15 but heathrows site is saying it's cancelled, be interesting to see where it puts down.

Su Campu

What's that easyJet 30M doing at 8000ft over the Birmingham area, why's he below FL200?

scudzilla

Su Campu wrote: »

What's that easyJet 30M doing at 8000ft over the Birmingham area, why's he below FL200?

Also a BA from Vegas to Heathrow been circling over Shannon for the past 30 mins

ch252

scudzilla wrote: »

Also a BA from Vegas to Heathrow been circling over Shannon for the past 30 mins

I just took this photo. Near Galway airport(<1mile away) facing North North West. This plane has been circling for the last while, perhaps its that BA?

[

robinph

All UK airports can reopen from 2200BST Tuesday:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8633597.stm

Will they make it stay up for another hour, or will they maybe let it into Heathrow early?

Klunk001

http://metoffice.com/aviation/vaac/data/VAG_1272886826.png

I see Ireland and parts of Scotland will be back in the red zone as of this evening, will the relevant Aviation authoraties be making any statements or is it carry on regardless.

Our man in Havana

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0503/ash.html

IAA warns of 'no fly zone' tomorrow
Monday, 3 May 2010 17:51

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has said 'no fly zone' may have to be imposed over Ireland tomorrow because of a the drift south of the volcanic ash cloud.

The IAA informed Irish-based airlines that it is concerned that Irish Airports may be impacted by the ash cloud

Current information from the Volcanic Ash Advice Centre (VAAC) suggests that a 'no fly zone' may affect Dublin, Shannon and some regional airports.

The IAA expects a further update from the VAAC at 8pm and will make a decision then concerning operations at Irish Airports and Irish Airspace.

Over-flights of Ireland from the UK and Europe are not expected to be impacted tomorrow and southern UK Airports are not expected to be impacted. Flights originating from Irish airports may be affected.

Lifelike

Bond-007 wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0503/ash.html

I thought that bloody volcano had stopped spewing ash :mad:

What trouble is a little ash going to do anyway?

De_man

here we go again:(:(

irish airspace (low level) to close from 7am

lets hope for a wind shift

Mitch Buchannon

Lifelike wrote: »

I thought that bloody volcano had stopped spewing ash :mad:

What trouble is a little ash going to do anyway?

Oh, no trouble at all. You can fly right through it. Its just a big conspiracy !! Jesus man, ATC don't shut down airspace and airlines ground planes for the craic !

Volcanic Ash Effects on Aircraft
Components Abrasion
Volcanic ash are highly abrasive particles that may damage aircraft components, particularly forward facing surface of external parts and engine components. They are made of sharp rock fragments that will easily erode plastic, metal and even glass pieces.
In service events show that aircraft may suffer from extensive damage after volcanic ash encounter. In some cases, all the following parts were removed and replaced, after they were sand blasted:
• Windshields
• Forward cabin windows
• Navigation and landing lights cover
• Wing, stabilizer and fin leading edges
• Engine nose cowls and thrust reversers
• All pitot and static probes.
Engine Performance Deterioration
Ingestion of volcanic ash by engines may cause serious deterioration of engine performance due to erosion of moving parts and/or partial or complete blocking of fuel nozzles.
Volcanic ash contains particles, whose melting point is below engine internal temperature. In-flight, these particles will immediately melt if they go through an engine. Going through the turbine, the melted materials are rapidly cooled down, stick on the turbine vanes, and disturb the flow of high-pressure combustion gases.
This disorder of the flow may stall the engine, in worst cases.

Have a read of this...
http://www.airbus.com/fileadmin/media_gallery/files/safety_library_items/AirbusSafetyLib_-FLT_OPS-OPS_ENV-SEQ06.pdf

airvan

I couldn't believe it this afternoon. A Ryanair came on frequency and asked for the new Sigmet. I actually put it on PA for the PAX. The ash is back. The Sig was so long that I was miles off course before I could get turned back.

It's like a bad dream.:(

pclancy

Lifelike wrote: »

What trouble is a little ash going to do anyway?

:rolleyes:

You really don't want to tempt fate with aviation.

scudzilla

Is this Ash visible to the naked eye?? (From the ground)

airvan

No, if it ever gets that visible we are all in trouble. If you are level with it you can see it as a dark layer in the distance and you can smell it.

highlydebased

Seemingly the airports here are to re-open at 1pm and operations to continue as normal

pclancy

Increased volcanic activity was experience in Iceland yesterday Tuesday 4th May 2010 resulting in denser volcanic ash being expelled higher into the atmosphere.

Based on the most recent Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre and Eurocontrol data, restrictions will apply at the following airports from the times indicated.

*
Donegal - restricted from 0800 hours local until further notice.
*
Sligo - restricted from 0900 hours local until further notice.
*
Dublin - restricted from 1100 hours local until further notice.
*
Ireland West (Knock) - restricted from 1100 hours local until further notice.

Cork, Waterford and Kerry will not have restrictions imposed before 1400 hours local, though restrictions after that point are likely.

No restrictions will apply to Shannon airport or Galway airport until further notice.

A further statement will be issued by 1000 hours local this morning, following the receipt of updated volcanic ash data.

Airline passengers should continue to contact their airline websites to establish the up-to-date position on flight schedules.

ENDS

Source

mel.b

Does anyone have a link to a site with predictions for the path of the volcanic ash? I've got a course next week in the UK and am flying SNN-LGW on Monday am. Just wondering if I should be thinking about booking the ferry as a back up.

Cheers,
mel.b