Iceland Volcanic Fallout - All UK Flights Grounded 15-04-10

[The Minkey]

"Apparently, the slightest trace of volcanic ash will rapidly degrade a jet engine. Jet aircraft that fly anywhere near an ash plume must have their engines overhauled according to an FAA directive following an incident during the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991."

Is that incident the one where the dust caused all 4 engines to cut out? I wouldn't want to be up in the air with that kind of dust in my flight path - no, no, no.

[HAL9000]

The Minkey Wrote:

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> Is that incident the one where the dust caused all

> 4 engines to cut out?

That's the one. That plane flew into the main ash plume, though. The crew managed to restart the engines and land safely but the turbines were so badly damaged they had to be scraped scrapped.

Edited to correct an ambiguous typo.

[TillieTrotter]

Annoucement from Heathrow at 8pm to outline restrictions until 1pm tomorrow.

[The Minkey]

(Reuters) - The Icelandic volcano currently making northern Europe a no-fly zone could potentially affect international travel for months with the key questions how long the eruption lasts and whether it continues to spew ash:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63E4B420100415

Looks like it's very much a case of wait and see. So sorry for you all planning to fly over the next couple of days :-(

[Michael Palaeologus]

First they steal our fish

Then they lose our savings

Now they have set their volcano on us

INVADE ICELAND!!

[????]

Most people on this forum wouldn't be seen dead in Iceland as we well know MP, the embarrassment

[indiepanda]

Moos Wrote:

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> Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, IP -

> especially since you're going to one of my

> favourite places in the world.

>

> Announcement I posted was from BA via our

> corporate travel agent. I also checked the

> website of the company I was flying with from City

> Airport (Cityjet) and they confirmed all of their

> flights planned for tomorrow have been cancelled.

Easyjet haven't officially cancelled our flights yet, but it's only a matter of time - NATS have said nothing happening in UK other than limited service in Scotland and NI up till 1pm tomorrow at earliest :-(

[HAL9000]

indiepanda Wrote:

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> Easyjet haven't officially cancelled our flights yet ...

From EasyJet's website - see link below:

Due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, UK Air Traffic Control (NATS) has now closed UK airspace until at least 1pm on Friday 16th. This means that easyJet, along with all other airlines, is currently unable to operate flights in and out of the UK. The disruption is expected to continue, and we are unable to say when operations will resume as normal given the uncertainty of this situation. A number of northern and western European countries are also affected.

http://easyjet.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3917/kw/vulcano/r_id/166

Official or not, it doesn't look like you'll be flying tomorrow morning :(

[indiepanda]

No great surprise. Oh well, better safe than sorry I guess :-(

[Michael Palaeologus]

They eat rotten shark you know.

[Applespider]

I am feeling jinxed travel-wise in 2010.

Jan - was asked to get off train for saying something was f'ing ridiculous to a member of staff and being accused of being abusive as a result.

Feb - Missed flight at Heathrow after missing security scan window by 3 minutes after a 50 minutes Tube delay. Annoyingly even after getting new ticket and going through security, original flight was still there.

March - Nearly missed flight home after ski trip after getting stuck in a jam behind an accident

April - Flight home from Jo'burg delayed by 14 hours

Friday - supposed to be flying to Scotland at 6.30pm on BA. I'm highly doubtful and debating whether to even bother packing.

[Bluerevolution]

A friend who works for a major aviator reckons thats cancellations will happen until Saturday afternoon at least

[Ladymuck]

Marmora Man Wrote:

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> Can I swap frogspawn for newts? we have newt free

> pond.

I do not wish to disturb the newts at present. However, I could let you have a newt or two later on in the season. The only thing is, I do not know whether my newts are the protected ones - because if they are, to move them would be illegal. Can you tell the difference between them?

As for frog spawn, we have some every year but, each year, the herons and foxes manage to find our tiny garden and scoff the lot between them. So, maybe some newborn froglets might be useful?

[Ladymuck]

HAL9000 Wrote:

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...but the turbines were so

> badly damaged they had to be scraped.

Scraped or scrapped?

[Andystar]

Michael Palaeologus Wrote:

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> First they steal our fish

>

> Then they lose our savings

>

> Now they have set their volcano on us

>

> INVADE ICELAND!!

---------------------------------------------------------

But they gave us Sigur Ros (tu)

[ianr]

"Save some money by NOT sending crew and cameras to ask stranded passengers how they feel."

Absolutely. They could do the local supermarket Kenyan mange tout panic buying story instead, for half the cost.

[riffraff]

Bugger, meant to be flying tomorrow..... to pack or not to pack tonight?? Might have to get the vino out instead and drown my sorrows :(

[TillieTrotter]

No flights until at least 7pm from all BAA airports. An update due around about now for restrictions until 1am Saturday morning. No China for my kids today.

[ratty]

I have been told that my wife and I will be on standby from 7am tomorrow.

[Brendan]

I bet the cogs in the heads of lots of clever people who work for insurance companies have been whirring non-stop for the last coupe of days.

[EDKiwi]

Live updates on the BBC news site

Live updates

This one made me laugh:

1143twmercer tweets: Honestly. If you can't look after your volcano you shouldn't be allowed to keep one.

[The Minkey]

"I bet the cogs in the heads of lots of clever people who work for insurance companies have been whirring non-stop for the last coupe of days."

Wouldn't this be classed as an act of god - no payouts?

[EDKiwi]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Here?s a tip for Sky/BBC/whoever news ? Save some

> money by NOT sending crew and cameras to ask

> stranded passengers how they feel.

Just watching the BBC news now and so far they have had live reports from Heathrow (showing empty terminal), Bristol (reporting from the empty runway), Manchester (showing a single plane landing) and St Pancras (showing a few people queing for tickets).

I too fail to see what benefit any of that has, yes planes aren't flying, yes the airports are empty, we get it.

[HAL9000]

The Minkey Wrote:

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> Wouldn't this be classed as an act of god - no payouts?

That's what I thought: force majeure - it's a live issue according to this Mail Online article. Lots of similar articles have appeared online today.

[Mick Mac]

I don't think we have learned the lessons of Pompeii.

Time seems to have stood still for some people since then. And dogs too.