Ural Airlines ignores volcanic ash warning

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Het KLM-toestel vloog op 42.600 ft en dat is zo'n 5000ft hoger dan
normaal. Dat betekent dus waarschijnlijk een lagere luchtdruk IN het
toestel en dus minder zuurstof.
Dat zal niet iedereen plezierig vinden, en voor sommigen zal het worden
afgeraden op medische gronden.

Groet / Cees

Ural Airlines ignores volcanic ash warning and attempts flight to Rome
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/
A passenger waits out the travel ban at Frankfurt airport. German
authorities said they would not let planes in the air until much later

A RUSSIAN commercial airplane attempted to travel from Moscow to Rome by
flying under the ash cloud from Iceland's volcano, the Aviation Herald
reported.

The flight, operated by the Russia's Ural Airlines, had to descend more
than 9,000 feet while it flew over Krakow, Poland. Later, the crew
reported that the plane was low on fuel and was forced to land in Vienna.

The Vienna Schwechat Airport, which remained open despite the closure of
the airspace, was investigating the plane's engines for ash
contamination. The Aviation Herald report did not say how many
passengers were on the flight.

At least 26 countries in Europe closed parts of their airspace, leaving
would-be travelers stranded across the globe as scientists warned that
volcanic ash from Iceland could continue drifting across northern Europe
for days to come.

Russia's airspace remained open yesterday but air travel disruptions
were caused by a lack of available airspace beyond its borders. Italian
airspace was closed.

Meanwhile, a KLM plane conducted a test flight over Europe yesterday.

The Boeing 737-800, Flight KLM705, made the test flight at the request
of the European Union to test the effects of volcanic ash on the aircraft.

KLM CEO Peter Hartman and Executive Vice-President of Operations Ype
DeHaan were both on board the test flight.

A spokeswoman for KLM said the plane landed safely at 18.58 GMT after
flying at a higher-than-normal altitude of approximately 42,600 feet.
She said the plane was still being tested after landing so the results
of the test flight were not yet known.

Authorities consider the airspace above most of Europe to be too
dangerous for non-emergency flights. At least 26 countries closed parts
of their airspaces Saturday, and U.S. carriers grounded the majority of
their flights to Europe.


Nearly 17,000 flights in European airspace have been cancelled.

Restrictions on flights in and out of the UK  and Germany will remain in
place until at least 12.00 GMT today.

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********