Volcanic Ash disrupting flights!!

[TSR2]

Just read about it on PPrune too. A bit mental if you ask me.

[Garry Russell]

I must go have a look

All I know is the breaking news on the radio that was relayed to me earlier

[TSR2]

Air France have a brand new A320 just left Paris for Toulouse on another proving flight.

I'm surprised that its NATS and not the CAA running this one as its an air safety matter? Also surprised there haven't been any CAA sponsored test flights in the UK, I'm not meaning by the airlines, but do we not have some aircraft somewhere for monitoring this type of thing, like old snoopy?

[Garry Russell]

I don't think they repace Snoopy with anything serious ..........

BA were due to recieve G-EUYH on Friday.....maybe they could fly that up and check for scratches afterward

[VEGAS]

My brother & sister-in-law are stuck in Thailand with their two year old daugther.

The novelty factor of having an extended holiday has very quickly worn off and they are desperate to get home.

I really feel sorry for them along with the thousands of other stranded people.

[Garry Russell]

Sadly, everthing looks pretty normal.....apart from ash on the cars...that makes it really hard to accept.

It does show we are on a fine line though with an awful lot of eggs in the one basket

Hope they can get something sorted Eddie, travelleing with a two year old is difficult enough in normal times

[VC10]

IF NATS/CAA do give clearance to fly in spite of the ash, the airlines will have to consult their airframe/engine manufacturers for their approval and possibly their insurers and that might not be a foregone conclusion.

[Garry Russell]

Nowdays there are so many agencies involved, all tied to tight legistration and concerned about mitigation, it is hard to imaging a sudden shout of "OK never mind let's go"

We could even see permission given one end and refused the other

Let's just hope for the best and believe it when we see it.

[SkippyBing]

Yeah, having seen this http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... canic.html I think waiting a bit before they let too many airliners loose might be a good idea! Another problem I can see is that even if it's decided the UK's airspace is OK, a lot of transatlantic flights take a route that goes much closer to Iceland which might make things tricky, especially for ETOPS.

[TSR2]

Cheers for that Skip. I'd heard about the F18 engine, but not read the article. Does anyone know if we (UK) are doing anything at all in the way of tests?