Volcanic ash grounds 1,000 European flights

[Guest guest]

I think you are right. Once it happens, the people will blame the airlines, sue, and demand more regulation by government, none of which will change the fact that it was largely the people unable to accept the danger the ash represented and demanded to fly that will cause it to happen.

In a message dated 5/17/2010 1:12:10 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

People behave fairly predictably in situations like this. Administrator

[Guest guest]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/100517/world/international_us_europe_air

Volcanic ash grounds 1,000 European flights

2 hours, 7 minutes ago

By Caroline Copley

LONDON (Reuters) - Volcanic ash from Iceland grounded 1,000 flights and delayed

hundreds of thousands of passengers in parts of northern Europe on Monday,

although forecasters said the situation would improve during the week.

Several of Europe's busiest airports, including London's Heathrow and Schiphol

in Amsterdam, were closed for several hours due to fears the ash could damage

jet engines and bring down aircraft.

Eurocontrol, the European air traffic agency, said about 1,000 flights out of a

total of 28,000 in Europe had been canceled on Monday, but it offered passengers

hope that the disruption will soon pass.

" During the course of the day, the current cloud is expected to disperse, " the

agency said in a statement. " Delays will also be experienced by flights due to

congestion in airspace adjacent to closed areas. "

Dutch airspace was reopened from 7 a.m. ET and Schiphol airport's check-in

counters were operating again in anticipation, although an airport spokesman

said it may take a while longer for flights to resume.

London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports reopened after overnight closures, but

passengers were warned to expect long delays and cancellations through the day.

Britain's air traffic control body eased a no-fly zone that affected Heathrow

and Gatwick because the drifting ash cloud had changed direction. The

restrictions remained in place over Northern Ireland and the Shetland Isles, off

northern Scotland.

The Met Office, Britain's weather forecasting body, said southwesterly winds

should push the cloud away from British and northern European airspace on Monday

and Tuesday.

The same Icelandic volcano's ash last month prompted a number of European

countries to close their airspace for nearly a week and travel chaos ensued in

Europe and beyond.

British Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said aviation officials and aircraft

makers were considering whether to allow planes to fly through higher densities

of ash.

'GROSS OVER-REACTION'

British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh said the airspace closure was a

" gross over-reaction to a very minor risk. "

" It can be managed and we don't need these blanket closures, " he told reporters

in London.

British flights face further disruption on Tuesday when BA cabin crew are due to

strike in a long-running dispute over pay and working practices. Their union and

BA managers were holding last-minute talks in London to avert the strike.

In Ireland, aviation officials said Dublin airport would reopen at 7 a.m. ET and

the conditions looked likely to improve.

" The prospects for the next number of days are very good, we don't anticipate

any problems with volcanic ash over the next two to three days, " Irish Aviation

Authority Chief Executive Eamonn Brennan told national broadcaster RTE's radio

news.

In the Netherlands, a spokesman for Schiphol said the airport would cancel about

500 flights, affecting 60,000 inbound and outbound passengers; while stranded

passengers stared at departure screens and check-in desks were empty.

" This is our national day in Norway ... and we have to stay in Amsterdam, so I

hope we get back to Norway perhaps tomorrow, " a Norwegian passenger, who gave

his name only as Helge, told Reuters Television.

Amsterdam Schiphol is Europe's third-largest cargo airport and fifth-largest

passenger hub.

More than 100,000 flights were canceled across Europe last month because of the

volcanic ash forming a cloud over the continent. Millions of people were

stranded and airlines, already battered by the global economic downturn, lost

$1.7 billion, the International Air Transport Association has said.

The volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland has been erupting for

weeks and the ash plume has reached heights of 25,000 feet.

(Additional reporting by Reuters bureaux in Brussels, Dublin and Amsterdam and

Griffiths in London; Editing by Roddy)

[Guest guest]

What will happen is that there won't be any crashes in the near future and the

airlines and travelers and regulatory agencies will be lulled into a false sense

of security.

A plane will crash due to ash in the engine or whatnot, and everyone will panic.

The industry will become over-protected and over-regulated. After enough

stifling rules, people will call for revisions of them, and the whole cycle will

repeat itself.

People behave fairly predictably in situations like this.

Administrator

The airlines need to consider not just immediate issues, but what about

increased maintenance load to inspect and make sure the engines are in working

order, fixing problems that arise from even small amounts of ash and most of

all, what will happen is a plane crashes due to ash or not? Such a crash would

really harm the industry because the instant assumption will be that it was due

to ash whether it was or not.