Volcanic ash halts all UK flights

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Butelsoftware

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More European countries are closing their airspace, so far nordic airspace is closed, Belgium Netherlands , North Germany will close down later this afternoon.

Gommert
 

SonicN

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Norwegian airspace is also closed. It is said that it will be closed until sometime friday.
 

MtnBiker2005

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The images shows what air space is closed for most aircraft.

Volcanic Ash Advisory from London - Issued graphics
http://metoffice.com/aviation/vaac/vaacuk_vag.html

NATS: The UK's leading Air Navigation Services Provider
Updates concerning the Icelandic volcanic eruption

http://www.nats.co.uk/


Watch the live air traffic on these two websites. Not many ADS-B transponder aircraft flying in the closed air space :(
http://www.flightradar24.com
http://casper.frontier.nl/eham/
http://www.radar-virtuel.com (Backup site working)
http://www.radarvirtuel.com (The main website down due to heavy load)
 
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Jay911

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Yeah, the RadarBox/SBS crowd over in the UK is flipping out looking at their empty screens. :)

Wasn't it a BA aircraft that flew over Indonesia some years ago that got sand-blasted by volcanic ash and had total engine failure (recovered after it got clear of the cloud)?

AFAIK very wise thing to do by the EU authorities. Nice day for a drive across the UK? :)
 

citylink_uk

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Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption for UK: Thurs April 15, 20:20

The cloud of volcanic ash continues to cover much of the UK. Following a review of the latest Met Office information, NATS advises that restrictions will remain in place in UK controlled airspace until 1300 (UK time) tomorrow, Friday 16 April, at the earliest.

However, flights from Northern Ireland and the Western Isles of Scotland to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Prestwick may be allowed in the period from 0100 (UK time) to 1300 (UK time) tomorrow subject to individual co-ordination. North Atlantic traffic to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Prestwick and Belfast may also be allowed in the period.

We will review further Met Office information and at 0230 (UK time) tomorrow we will advise the arrangements that will be in place through to 1800 (UK time) tomorrow. However be aware that the situation cannot be said to be improving with any certainty as the forecast affected area appears to be closing in from east to west. We continue to work closely with airports, airlines, and the rest of Europe to understand and mitigate the implications of the volcanic eruption.
 
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citylink_uk

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Yeah, the RadarBox/SBS crowd over in the UK is flipping out looking at their empty screens. :)

Wasn't it a BA aircraft that flew over Indonesia some years ago that got sand-blasted by volcanic ash and had total engine failure (recovered after it got clear of the cloud)?

AFAIK very wise thing to do by the EU authorities. Nice day for a drive across the UK? :)

It sure is quiet out there. Shame there is quite a bit of cloud cover, the contrail free skies would have been an unusual sight.
 

Jay911

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Here's what I was talking about.

British Airways Flight 9 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These guys flew for a crazy amount of time with no power inside an ash cloud and eventually landed a partial ILS approach (with failed glide slope!) because the windscreens were too damaged to see out of. The only rocks bigger than the ones that their engines ingested were the ones possessed by the flight crew.

Flight 9's captain said:
Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.
 

citylink_uk

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Here's what I was talking about.

British Airways Flight 9 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These guys flew for a crazy amount of time with no power inside an ash cloud and eventually landed a partial ILS approach (with failed glide slope!) because the windscreens were too damaged to see out of. The only rocks bigger than the ones that their engines ingested were the ones possessed by the flight crew.

I remember watching a National Geographic 'Air Crash Investigation' program on that flight. It was quite interesting. One of the main problems when they came into land was that the windscreen had been sand blasted by the tiny rock particles and turned opaque.
 

SCPD

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Here's what I was talking about.

British Airways Flight 9 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These guys flew for a crazy amount of time with no power inside an ash cloud and eventually landed a partial ILS approach (with failed glide slope!) because the windscreens were too damaged to see out of. The only rocks bigger than the ones that their engines ingested were the ones possessed by the flight crew.

Here's another ash-related incident that happened only a few years later, with much more severe consequences:

KLM Flight 867 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/15/iceland-volcano-ash-flights-grounded

Airports in France now closed in addition to Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, UK, Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Northern Germany. By tonight (Eastern Time US), the ash will spread over to Poland, Russia, the rest of Germany, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic States.
 
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D

DaveNF2G

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We had contrail free skies in the USA for a week or so during September, 2001.

Quite a turnabout amongst the virtual radar crowd. As those boxes were invented in Europe, there was initially very little data available for North American users. Now we have all of the traffic! LOL.
 

morfis

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Still fairly quiet...two contrail free days so far which is quite pleasant. A couple of aircraft into/out of manchester this morning but they are now saying the debris is likely to be blown back northwards over the uk late tonight
 

citylink_uk

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Restrictions on UK airspace have been extended until 0100 BST on Sunday.

Airspace closed:


Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK

Partial closures:


Belarus: No flights between 7,000-11,000m (23,000-36,000 ft)
Croatia: (North-western airspace closed)
France (northern airspace, with Paris airports closed until 1200 GMT Saturday)
Italy (northern airspace closed until 1800 GMT Saturday)
Lithuania (air traffic control leaving decision to fly to individual companies)
Norway (limited flights in north)
Serbia

Flights operating:


Spain, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey

So into a third day with clear skies, certainly have been having some nice sunsets though.
 

zerg901

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I heard a news story today saying that US military medevac flights from Iraq and Afghanistan are now going to Andrews AFB instead of Germany. Soldiers will be getting medical care at Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Medical Center. IIRC there is approx 6 flights per week. Peter Sz
 
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