Ash cloud nothing but hot air?

tigerbob

Increasingly jaded.
Oct 27, 2007
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Britain's airspace was closed under false pretences, with satellite images revealing there was no doomsday volcanic ash cloud over the entire country.

Skies fell quiet for six days, leaving as many as 500,000 Britons stranded overseas and costing airlines hundreds of millions of pounds.

Estimates put the number of Britons still stuck abroad at 35,000.

However, new evidence shows there was no all-encompassing cloud and, where dust was present, it was often so thin that it posed no risk.

The satellite images demonstrate that the skies were largely clear, which will not surprise the millions who enjoyed the fine, hot weather during the flight ban.

Jim McKenna, the Civil Aviation Authority's head of airworthiness, strategy and policy, admitted: 'It's obvious that at the start of this crisis there was a lack of definitive data.

It's also true that for some of the time, the density of ash above the UK was close to undetectable.'

The satellite images will be used by airlines in their battle to win tens of millions of pounds in compensation from governments for their losses.

Remember that ash cloud? It didn't exist, says new evidence | Mail Online

WTF??? :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
I saw news coverage where people had ash all over their properties just like snow...So it was more like an incorrect forecast of exactly where and how much.




"Volcanic ash and jet engines don't mix, so safety is our number one priority," said Bob Jones, the UK regulator's head of operations. "We won't be able to lift those restrictions until we're comfortable that it's safe to have aircraft fly with members of the travelling public again."

While the mayhem negatively affected millions, it has also thrown up a flurry of scientific research. The silver lining to the ash cloud could be a better understanding of the exact danger of volcanic ash.

Overreaction?

The British Meteorological Office is the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre for the northeastern Atlantic. While the region it monitors is relatively small, it covers some of the busiest airways in the world. Its forecast of where the ash cloud was headed was followed closely by aviation authorities across northern Europe.

Each day a total of more than 16,000 flights were grounded. The airlines began to grumble but the international regulations were clear: if there was any volcanic ash in the airspace - any ash at all - no planes should fly.

"We're in a situation where, if the engines were to fail in an aircraft, it is going to crash and everybody on board will die," said Colin Brown of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, who feels the shutdown made sense.

"Where you have a small chance of that happening, it would be very wrong to say, let's give it a try. This is a matter of life and death."


But as the flight ban dragged on, it quickly became more a matter of life and death for the airlines, which were losing about 150 million euros a day. Some were in danger of going under financially and they began to complain that the authorities had overreacted.

As dust settles on volcanic ash crisis, a blame game simmers | Science & Technology | Deutsche Welle | 26.04.2010
 
Yeah, and there are no baffles in the river preventing London from flooding either :lol:
 
Icelandic Volcanic Ash Cloud Was Electrically Charged

Study: Icelandic Volcanic Ash Cloud Was Electrically Charged | AHN
May 28, 2010

London, United Kingdom (AHN) - The ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano which grounded European air travel last April was electrically charged.

Electrically charged ash clouds are common directly over erupting volcanoes and may be found up to 50 kilometers from their source.

However, a new study in the UK, published Thursday, found electric ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano as far as 1,200 kilometers away from the eruption.

Study co-author meteorologist Giles Harrison said this means that many volcanic ash clouds might be electrified and could theoretically be a danger to air travel.

He said charged particles might interfere with radio transmissions, and might also penetrate the an aircraft’s cabin and create an electrostatic hazard to passengers and the plane’s internal systems.


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