Tag Archives: Volcanic Ash

easyJet, Airbus and Nicarnica Aviation complete the final stage of testing of the AVOID volcanic ash detection system

EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) has issued this statement:

During the experiment the test team successfully:

Generated an artificial ash cloud over the bay of Biscay by releasing a tonne of volcanic ash using an Airbus A400M aircraft.
Measured the ash concentration with a small aircraft flying through the ash cloud
Flew an Airbus A340-300 fitted with the AVOID sensor towards the ash cloud and successfully identified the ash from distances of 60km as well as accurately measuring its concentration
easyJet plans to continue development with a view to mounting stand-alone units on some of its current fleet of aircraft by the end of 2014 thereby providing a solution which would mean we should not encounter the widespread air space closures of 2010 again

EasyJet, the UK’s largest airline, along with its partners Airbus and Nicarnica Aviation, has successfully completed the final stage of testing for the AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector) volcanic ash technology through a unique experiment involving the creation of an artificial ash cloud.

An A400M Airbus test plane (below) dispersed one ton of Icelandic ash into the atmosphere at between 9,000 ft and 11,000 ft thereby creating conditions consistent with the 2010 eruption. A second Airbus test aircraft, an A340-300, with the AVOID technology fitted, flew towards the ash cloud identifying and measuring it from around 60 km away. The experiment also used a small aircraft, a Diamond DA42 from Dusseldorf University of Applied Sciences, to fly into the ash cloud to take measurements which help to corroborate the measurements made by the AVOID system.

The ash cloud produced during the test was between 600 ft and 800 ft deep measuring 2.8 km in diameter. To begin with the ash cloud was visible to the naked eye but dissipated quickly becoming difficult to identify.

The AVOID volcanic sensor detected the ash cloud and measured its density which ranged from 0.1 to 1 g m-2 – or concentrations of 100 to 1000 µg m-3. This is within the range of concentrations measured during the Eyjafjallajokul ash crisis in April and May 2010.

Video:

EasyJet:

Volcanic ash spreads east to cancel flights in Scotland

Icelandic Volcanic Ash is spreading east and several airlines have already started canceling flights that fly into Scottish airspace.

Current VAAC Forecast Map:

On the flip side, Ryanair said it strongly objected to the disruption of air service due to orders from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) that cancelled the airspace between Ireland and Scotland. Read the full story from The Independent: CLICK HERE

Read the full volcanic ash story from thejournal.ie: CLICK HERE

Volcanic ash grounds 1,000 European flights

News on more airspace closures from Reuters:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idCNLDE64G01C20100517?rpc=44

Some Irish and UK airspace closed due to a new ash cloud

According to Reuters, Ireland shut several of its airports and Britain imposed a no-fly zone on parts of its airspace on Sunday as another cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland looked set to disrupt European air travel yet again.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said three northwestern airports were closed from early Sunday but other hubs, such as Dublin, would remain open until later in the day.

North Atlantic overflights through Irish-controlled airspace remain unaffected despite the cloud drifting over the country. A cloud of ash spewed from the same volcano in Iceland wreaked havoc on European air traffic last month.

Read the full report:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idCNLDE64F04B20100516?rpc=44

European airlines conduct test flights, urge an end to the ban

Copyright Photo: Jay Selman. It was a beautiful day in London but nothing with wings was departing from Gatwick Airport. Perhaps Aer Lingus' flight to West Knock was a bit too optimistic!

Copyright Photo: Gabor Hajdufi. The volcanic ash over Europe is creating some beautiful sunsets while the aviation industry loses large amounts of money.

According to this Associated Press report, several major European airlines conducted test flights today and found no damage from the volcanic ash that has paralyzed aviation over the European continent, increasing pressure on governments to ease restrictions that have thrown global travel and commerce into chaos.

Is it safe to fly yet? Airline officials and some pilots say the passengerless test flights show that it is. Meteorologists warn that the skies over Europe remain unstable from an Icelandic volcano that continues to spew ash capable of knocking out jet engines.

European Union officials said air traffic could return to half its normal level on Monday if the dense cloud begins to dissipate. Germany allowed some flights to resume.

Eighty percent of European airspace remained closed for a devastating fourth day on Sunday, with only 4,000 of the normal 20,000-flight schedule in the air, said Brian Flynn, deputy head of operations for Eurocontrol, which supports the air traffic control network across the European Union’s 27 states.

Read the full report:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100418/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_iceland_volcano