Highlander999
ICC President
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2006
- Location
- London
BBC News - Icelandic volcanic ash alert grounds UK flights
All flights in and out of the UK and several other European countries have been suspended as ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland moves south.
Up to 4,000 flights are being cancelled with airspace closed in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark among others.
The UK's air traffic control service (Nats) said no flights would be allowed in or out of UK airspace until 0700 BST on Friday amid fears of engine damage.
The airspace restriction was the worst in living memory, a spokesman said.
Experts have warned that the tiny particles of rock, glass and sand contained in the ash cloud could be sufficient to jam aircraft engines.
The European air safety body, Eurocontrol, said the cloud of ash had reached 55,000ft and was expected to move through northern UK and Scotland.
Met Office forecaster Philip Avery said the ash could take several days to clear.
He said: "It is showing up on imagery at the moment, extending down as far as the Faroes but it looks as though the wind will drag it a good deal further south.
"Nats has good cause to be very cautious about this because in about 1982 a British Airways jumbo had the unnerving experience of having all four engines shut down as it flew through a plume of volcanic ash."
There was a nearly identical incident on 15 December 1989 when KLM Flight 867, a B747-400 from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska, flew into the plume of the erupting Mount Redoubt, causing all four engines to fail.
Once the flight cleared the ash cloud, the crew was able to restart each engine and then make a safe landing at Anchorage, but the aircraft was substantially damaged.
Woah, seems pretty big news over here
All flights in and out of the UK and several other European countries have been suspended as ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland moves south.
Up to 4,000 flights are being cancelled with airspace closed in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark among others.
The UK's air traffic control service (Nats) said no flights would be allowed in or out of UK airspace until 0700 BST on Friday amid fears of engine damage.
The airspace restriction was the worst in living memory, a spokesman said.
Experts have warned that the tiny particles of rock, glass and sand contained in the ash cloud could be sufficient to jam aircraft engines.
The European air safety body, Eurocontrol, said the cloud of ash had reached 55,000ft and was expected to move through northern UK and Scotland.
Met Office forecaster Philip Avery said the ash could take several days to clear.
He said: "It is showing up on imagery at the moment, extending down as far as the Faroes but it looks as though the wind will drag it a good deal further south.
"Nats has good cause to be very cautious about this because in about 1982 a British Airways jumbo had the unnerving experience of having all four engines shut down as it flew through a plume of volcanic ash."
There was a nearly identical incident on 15 December 1989 when KLM Flight 867, a B747-400 from Amsterdam to Anchorage, Alaska, flew into the plume of the erupting Mount Redoubt, causing all four engines to fail.
Once the flight cleared the ash cloud, the crew was able to restart each engine and then make a safe landing at Anchorage, but the aircraft was substantially damaged.
Woah, seems pretty big news over here
