Volcanic Ash, Fact or Fiction,
A volcano erupts in Iceland and most of western Europe closes its airspace!
What about volcanic areas such as Indonesia where eruptions are frequent. Why do they not close their airspace each time?
The answer is that they track the main plume of ash and issue a warning to aviation giving the co-ordinates and recommending a safe separation distance. Aviation continues although the diversions may add a little to journey times. A full scale closure is just not necessary.
When Mount St. Helens erupted the specific plume was huge and was avoided but the general area of thin ash that went round the world was considered safe and no planes were affected.
What is happening now is a massive show of ignorance and a nanny type of attitude. Yes a BA aircraft had a serious problem in 1982 but they flew right into the main plume. They were still in the general area of the ash when they recovered their engines and went on to land safely.
We should be cautious but not stupid. Sooner or later people will get fed up and insist that flights resume in areas away from the main plume wether or not the so called experts ( self proclaimed normally ) agree or not
