Series of events re European Control
Sunday 18.4.2010.
Richard. I have just read your piece below on your blog, and thinking
about what Brown mentioned today on TV when he mentioned the EU
(basically in passing) on the subject of the present ash from the
volcano, I wondered if the EU had decided to "shut down" EU Zones
under the Single European Sky? I know NATS is highly involved-no
doubt about that, but is the closing down of our skies (Or at least
the sky over "EU Territory") also come under the EU? And does that
decision rest entirely with the EU? NATS surely has more charge every
where and anywhere 'planes are at any particular time? But this
situation is surely a different matter altogether, even though it is
concerned with the safety of 'planes and its passengers? Or, am I
completely 'up the pole? Anne
From Off Richard North’s Blog yesterday. 18.4.2010.
Air travel across much of Europe was paralysed for a fourth day on
Sunday by a huge cloud of volcanic ash, but Dutch and German test
flights carried out without apparent damage seem to offer some hope of
respite says Reuters.
Dutch airline KLM said overnight inspection of an airliner after a
test flight showed no damage to engines or other parts from ash in the
atmosphere. Lufthansa also reported problem-free test flights, while
Italian and French carriers announced they would be flying empty
airliners on Sunday to assess conditions.
KLM, acting on a European Union request, flew a Boeing 737-800 without
passengers at the regular altitude of 10 km (6 miles) and up to the 13
km maximum on Saturday. Germany's Lufthansa said it flew 10 empty
planes to Frankfurt from Munich at altitudes of up to 8 km.
"We have not found anything unusual and no irregularities, which
indicates the atmosphere is clean and safe to fly," said a spokeswoman
for KLM, which is part of Air France-KLM. German airline Air Berlin
said it had also carried out test flights and expressed irritation at
the shutdown of European air space.
"We are amazed that the results of the test flights done by Lufthansa
and Air Berlin have not had any bearing on the decision-making of the
air safety authorities," Chief Executive Joachim Hunold said. "The
closure of the air space happened purely because of the data of a
computer simulation at the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in London," he
told the mass circulation Bild am Sonntag paper.
So, the whole of the shutdown is based on a computer simulation that
bears no relation to reality. Does that remind us of anything?
**************************
Anne. We are most definitely talking about Eurocontrol
Posts
