Icelandic volcanic ash halts European air traffic.

[Ferry_vO]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8621407.stm

A of 14:00 local time Dutch, Belgian and part of German air traffic will be halted too by Eurocontrol.

[stiz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8621407.stm

A of 14:00 local time Dutch, Belgian and part of German air traffic will be halted too by Eurocontrol.

Iceland surely isnt being very nice to us lot over ere the last couple of years :icon_lol:

[wombat666]

I believe the UK is about to be the next to lose air traffic due to the ash problem.
Not good.

Edit:Just confirmed on our World News Service.

[Lionheart]

This means in the next few days, we'll be getting some excellent red sunsets because of this.

Horrible what it does to jet engines.


Bill

[stiz]

sunsets

wassat?? o that yellow thing?? no wait thats the sun ... i thought the only weather condition was 10/10ths cloud! :icon_lol:

[bstolle]

I'm supposed to fly from Toronto to Vienna this afternoon. Already curious which route our dispatch is planning. Most probably way down to the south via France. Guess we will need much more fuel (and time) today....

[kilo delta]

Irish airspace is affected too

[bstolle]

Sigh, that means it's going to be a random routing, not only more fuel and time but also more work, less sleep and hence less time for FSX in the evening....

[6297J]

This means in the next few days, we'll be getting some excellent red sunsets because of this.

Horrible what it does to jet engines.


Bill


I think if it was going to stretch as far as the American South West then it would probably be curtains for Europe!! :icon_lol:

When Mount St Helens erupted in the 80's (with much, MUCH greater ferocity), it wasn't visible to us in the far western edges of Europe. It might have had an effect on the weather, globally speaking but if we hadn't seen it on the news and had relatives in the area we would never have noticed. I'd be surprised if we see anything from Iceland in the skies above London! Scotland maybe.

Besides, it will be drifting south and east not west.

[T6flyer]

I've flown this morning.....but in the far south west of England we dont seem to be affected by it all. But you never know what will happen as the wind seems to be blowing from the North West!!

Martin

[Panther_99FS]

When I was stationed in Iceland, they told us that if we were there for 2yrs, we stood a good chance of seeing some type of volcanic activity....

[6297J]

I've flown this morning.....but in the far south west of England we dont seem to be affected by it all. But you never know what will happen as the wind seems to be blowing from the North West!!

Martin

Sorry - I completely misread your post. I started going on about Air SouthWest :redf:

[bstolle]

Just received an update from my company. Oceanic exit point will be over spain...Guess we will not be on time in Vienna...

[Ferry_vO]

Dutch airspace will be closed at 19:00 PM local time, Norway and the UK already closed, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden will close their airspace later today.

I doubt the cloud will be visible from the ground; apparently the particles are all up in the upper layers but can contain rock and glass and therefore are dangerous to fly through.

Edit: Here you can see the location of the volcano and the cloud slowly drifting to the south east: http://www.sat24.nl/homepage.aspx?page=ir

[bstolle]

it's not the rock & glass but the volcanic ash which sticks like hell to the windows, internal and external engine parts etc...The most famous volcanic ash accident was when the BA 747 lost all four engines in the cloud..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9

[Clarke123]

it's not the rock & glass but the volcanic ash which sticks like hell to the windows, internal and external engine parts etc...The most famous volcanic ash accident was when the BA 747 lost all four engines in the cloud..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9
Volcanic ash is tiny particles of rock and glass

[bstolle]

Sorry, my fault (sloppy reading). I missed the part with the 'tiny particels' in Ferrys reply.

[Lionheart]

I didnt mean drastic cloud layers in Arizona. We can see it usually in the sunsets is all. Cant really see it during the day, but right at sunset, the sky is much redder. Upper atmosphere with the dust in it turns red from the sun. Pretty spectacular.

Anytime a volcano goes off, after a few days is when we start seeing the effects. Takes a while for the dust to get here.

<--- dust capital of the world... or at least we used to be.. temporarily taken away from us..

[6297J]

I didnt mean drastic cloud layers in Arizona. We can see it usually in the sunsets is all. Cant really see it during the day, but right at sunset, the sky is much redder. Upper atmosphere with the dust in it turns red from the sun. Pretty spectacular.

Anytime a volcano goes off, after a few days is when we start seeing the effects. Takes a while for the dust to get here.

<--- dust capital of the world... or at least we used to be.. temporarily taken away from us..


I know what you mean - the best sunsets I've ever seen have been in Arizona.

Here's one I saw a few years ago -

4723

[cheezyflier]

now all of you fire up fsx and play the volcano mission with the dc-3 in order to practice your single engine landings.

[6297J]

Having seen the news, this is a lot worse than I thought. The last time Eyjafjallajoekull erupted like this in 1821 it lasted months :icon_eek:

We are all going to have to go back to using boats http://freesmileyface.net/smiley/Transports/ship-022.gif (http://freesmileyface.net/Free-Transports-Smileys.html)

[djscoo]

34mHZgP9vkc

[ananda]

All of Northern Europe is closed:

http://www.flightradar24.com/

[mfitch]

If anyone ever has a chance, fly around the cone of a volcano as soon as legal. My wife and I used a local flight seeing company to fly around Mt. Redoubt last year a couple days after the FAA lifted the flight ban. Seeing the still smoldering lava dome and the hundreds of mile long ash stain on the snow capped mountains was impressive.

[tigisfat]

When I was stationed in Iceland, they told us that if we were there for 2yrs, we stood a good chance of seeing some type of volcanic activity....


LUCKY!! When I was stationed in Texas, they said there was a good chance we'd see nothing.:icon_lol:

Seriously though, Iceland is beautiful.

[PRB]

now all of you fire up fsx and play the volcano mission with the dc-3 in order to practice your single engine landings.

I almost made that one. When the volcano FUBARd the engine, I shut down the good one. (Doh!, your other left!!) LOL

[Bjoern]

There's supposed to be blood rain here...I'm eagerly waiting.

[stefanvalg]

Hello from Iceland. We have 3 more Volcanos almost ready to erupt. The Worst Volcano is Mt Katla in Myrdals jokull Glacier east of Eyjafjallajokull Glacier witch is erupting now. Mt Katla is similar to the Mt Saint Helens in the USA. Katla can start erupting after Eyjafjallajokull shuts up, so flight could be down for montths in the Northern Hemissphere. Last time Eyjafjallajokull Glacier erupted it was on and off for three years then Mt Katla took over for few months. So Volcanos are bad for aviation. However on the fun note becuse of the Icesave problem Prime minister Brown is probably Shouting towards Iceland "We want Cash not ash" All the best Stefanvalg in Volcanic Iceland

[Bjoern]

We have 3 more Volcanos almost ready to erupt.

But please keep the ash next time. :icon_lol:


However on the fun note becuse of the Icesave problem Prime minister Brown is probably Shouting towards Iceland "We want Cash not ash"

Well, in german, "ash" is a slang term for money.
So if you gonna throw this stuff out into the world don't complain you're broke afterwards. :icon_lol:

[Ken Stallings]

Proves the point again that mother nature has a far greater impact on the earth's climate than anything us relatively feeble humans can muster!

The ash this activity is putting into the atmosphere will have measurable worldwide affects on climate.

The immediate affect on European air transportation is merely the tip of the iceberg even as substantial an impact as it is for us.

Cheers,

Ken

[cheezyflier]

you know, i was thinking the same thing, sort of.

what will the impact be outside of travel? many goods are shipped by air. mail and packages travel by air. planes do alot more than move people. they do more than move things. it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[demorier]

My sister and her husband were en-route to England from Australia on Tuesday. After the usual stop over in Singapore they departed the next day and got diverted to Dubai. They are still there, aborted holiday and now waiting to get home (on Sunday!). Lots of time to learn about Camels.

[6297J]

My sister and her husband were en-route to England from Australia on Tuesday. After the usual stop over in Singapore they departed the next day and got diverted to Dubai. They are still there, aborted holiday and now waiting to get home (on Sunday!). Lots of time to learn about Camels.

That's a shame but there are worse places to be stuck at the Airline's expense. Dubai is glorious! It's better that than being stuck in the UK for god knows how long. Now they are saying things will possibly resume after the weekend but only if the wind changes direction as the Volcano shows no sign of stopping. This could go on for weeks!

[Kowalski65]

Prime minister Brown is probably Shouting towards Iceland "We want Cash not ash"
:) LOL
Plus an extra 50 quid for flouting our smoking ban :)

[T6flyer]

flown again today and its been very very quiet on the radios. Almost if have the whole sky to yourself.

Martin

[srgalahad]

flown again today and its been very very quiet on the radios. Almost if have the whole sky to yourself.

Martin
They are all sitting at home or at airports watching flightradar24.com...
"Due to an extreme amount of visitors at Flightradar24, we have temporarliy suspended the ability to click on aircrafts (normally shows flightinfo like speed, aircraft type, destination and plane trail)"

Took 3 tries to even get to the page

[Snuffy]

I reckon that stuff plays havoc on turbine fins ...

with an air filtered gas putt putt you probably stand a better chance of surviving a flight in that stuff.

[hairyspin]

with an air filtered gas putt putt you probably stand a better chance of surviving a flight in that stuff.

With an "air filtered gas putt putt" you're probably not going to get high enough to get near that stuff...

Enjoy the quiet skies, T6flyer! :wiggle:

[Bjoern]

I reckon that stuff plays havoc on turbine fins ...

with an air filtered gas putt putt you probably stand a better chance of surviving a flight in that stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedbird_9


Might just be useful to aviod anything higher than FL300. Apparently that's where the ash cloud is located.


No rain yet here today, just a few normal clouds in an otherwise clear blue sky.

Must be weird for the people living near big airports. Total quietness instead of the usual noise.

[kilo delta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedbird_9


Might just be useful to aviod anything higher than FL300. Apparently that's where the ash cloud is located.


No rain yet here today, just a few normal clouds in an otherwise clear blue sky.

Must be weird for the people living near big airports. Total quietness instead of the usual noise.


GA is thriving,though......perfect opportunity to practice ILS approaches now that the "Big Iron" is grounded.

[aeromed202]

Us, big events, and flying don't go well. The wife and I were scheduled to fly to the UK for the honeymoon... on 9/11. Now she and a friend were scheduled to fly to Italy for a new business venture... tomorrow. Oh well.

I'll let everyone know when we plan our next big flight... so everyone can hunker down.


edit: also found a couple of informative links:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMKDU9MT7G_index_0.html

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/tracking-the-volcanic-ash-cloud/

[SIAI S81]

The ash cloud is arriving on Italy, tomorrow Bolzano and Milan airports will be closed, maybe tomorrow Enac will order to close all airports in north of Italy.

[KOM.Nausicaa]

Former Monty Python star John Cleese told the Daily Mail, a U.K. newspaper, that he was taking a 943-mile taxi journey from Oslo to Brussels at a cost of $4,600, en route to London. He was due to arrive Saturday afternoon.

Wow, that is one hell of a Taxi bill ! The Eurostar station in Brussels isn't far away from me...they have probably already some camera teams there to look out for a cab with Oslo sign...haha!

[Ferry_vO]

Wow, that is one hell of a Taxi bill !

I would have done it for half that price.. I would think it would be a great trip to take!

[aeromed202]

Anyone know about flights to Milan for the next 24-48 hours?

[Matt Wynn]

Might just be useful to aviod anything higher than FL300. Apparently that's where the ash cloud is located.
.

yesterday over Wittering i think it was ash was detected as low as 6000ft... and i was looking forward to some freefall today too, darn you murphy and your laws!

[Clarke123]

yesterday over Wittering i think it was ash was detected as low as 6000ft... and i was looking forward to some freefall today too, darn you murphy and your laws!
There is ash on the ground in some places

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/7600918/Volcanic-ash-cloud-dust-falls-across-Britain.html

[huub vink]

Anyone know about flights to Milan for the next 24-48 hours?

Depends on your departure point. Here in the Netherlands the main airport Schiphol remains closed. In most European countries the decision whether or not open their airports again has been postponed to Sunday already.

I live quite close to Schiphol and the background noise of airliners is always present. Now it is no longer there I suddenly realise how much noise these tubeliners actually make.

But I think this whole vulcano story is just made up by the railways and ferry companies........ ;)

Cheers,
Huub

[Bjoern]

yesterday over Wittering i think it was ash was detected as low as 6000ft... and i was looking forward to some freefall today too, darn you murphy and your laws!

Oh, mkay!

[stewpot]

Depends on your departure point. Here in the Netherlands the main airport Schiphol remains closed. In most European countries the decision whether or not open their airports again has been postponed to Sunday already.

I live quite close to Schiphol and the background noise of airliners is always present. Now it is no longer there I suddenly realise how much noise these tubeliners actually make.

But I think this whole vulcano story is just made up by the railways and ferry companies........ ;)

Cheers,
Huub


It is really very weird to look up into the sky and see no vapour trails and hear no aircraft.

This part of the UK is criss- crossed with transantlantic routings and is under the final approach for Manchester and Leeds Bradford Airports. We also get our fair share of light aircraft/ choppers etc.

The last three days--------zilch.


Regards...........Stu

[ananda]

The only aircraft on FlightRadar24 flying into the UK today was a Bristow's helicopter from an oil rig to Aberdeen.

[Milton Shupe]

I suppose that we could get used to the quietness around airports, the clean, clear vapor trail-less skies, the sunsets, the millions of pounds of fuel not burned (saved) each day, and the wonderment of how this change affects our lives, our thought patterns, and environment.

[Clarke123]

I suppose that we could get used to the quietness around airports, the clean, clear vapor trail-less skies, the sunsets, the millions of pounds of fuel not burned (saved) each day, and the wonderment of how this change affects our lives, our thought patterns, and environment.
Nuts to that! You speak for yourself. :icon_lol:

[Matt Wynn]

i'm not too fussed by the lack of aircraft, i'm fussed because i was looking forward to some good freefall... :wiggle:

[6297J]

I don't care about the aircraft either, I just want my Kenyan Strawberries back :frown:

[Clarke123]

OK thats three of you now saying you don't care about aircraft :isadizzy:

[Matt Wynn]

Aircraft to me serve 1 purpose... to get me to a safe Jump height :icon_lol: oh and to take me to them erm..."Fun" places.... these sims need more skydivers :jump:

[6297J]

OK thats three of you now saying you don't care about aircraft :isadizzy:


Or cars ;)

I'm really not a plane spotter!

To be honest, being under the flightpath to Heathrow, I am really surprised by how much I haven't even noticed that they are missing.

[Matt Wynn]

Or cars ;)

i concur i prefer my Duc.... it's weird but this is once how the skies were in the GOLDEN age of aviation... :jump:

[Clarke123]

Or cars ;)

To be honest, being under the flightpath to Heathrow, I am really surprised by how much I haven't even noticed that they are missing.
There are two things I believe to be sacred, aircraft and Top Gear! I've seen neither this week. Dark times.

[6297J]

There are two things I believe to be sacred, aircraft and Top Gear! I've seen neither this week. Dark times.

Funny you should say that!

Have you considered the possibility that this Volcanic activity is actually the unwanted side effect of a Top Gear stunt?

http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2010/04/16/1990/

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/16/top-gear-takes-blame-for-icelandic-volcano-eruption/

:d

[Matt Wynn]

There are two things I believe to be sacred, aircraft and Top Gear! I've seen neither this week. Dark times.

Top Gear is a Religion :icon_lol: i've been watching it on 'Dave' rarely miss it, if i am set to miss it even if i've seen it i'll sky+ it :icon_lol: heres something for your withdrawal symptoms Clarke...

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwdI6dKtd34&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwdI6dKtd34&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

back on Topic, hope mondays clear i'm scheduled for a HALO practice... Volcano may yet have a second eruption, and last time as was said, last time this volcano went it was active for 2 years...

[Naismith]

I remember when Top Gear used to be about cars and not the presenters. I find it all so contrived and predictable.

[6297J]

I remember when Top Gear used to be about cars and not the presenters. I find it all so contrived and predictable.


It's scripted Naismith, as I've said before. And it's so obvious now when the policeman stops Clarkson, or the cable breaks and the car falls, or Hammond's car catches on fire - it's all pre-arranged and overproduced. But it's such a successful program and brings in such big money from overseas that they will keep it going and keep it going until it becomes a parody of itself. Part of the problem I think is that the presenters were immmediately given countless other projects to work on and books to write and voice overs to do. At one point Hammond was everywhere!
I remember when a series of Top Gear used to last about 12 weeks - now you get half a dozen episodes if you are lucky - partly because the presenters have too many lucrative newspaper columns to write and partly because they have run out of ideas.

[Quixoticish]

I remember when Top Gear used to be about cars and not the presenters. I find it all so contrived and predictable.

Old Top Gear (the car review show) was boring as hell. New Top Gear (the comedy show) is absolutely fantastic, one of the best shows on TV and something actually worth paying a license fee for.

[Rami]

you know, i was thinking the same thing, sort of.

what will the impact be outside of travel? many goods are shipped by air. mail and packages travel by air. planes do alot more than move people. they do more than move things. it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Cheezyflyer,

Believe it or not, this event is also having a significant impact here in Boston. Monday, aside from being Patriot's Day, is the annual running of the Boston marathon. The top runners in this marathon are a high concentration of foreigners, many from Kenya and Eastern Europe. Due to the eruption in Iceland, many are having extreme difficulty getting here to the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon

The upshot is, if many don't get here in time, the field may be wide-open for an American to win for once. Go USA, and keep that ash a-flying! :USA-flag: