UK, Northern Europe No Fly Zone

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Oberon

In the hands of the gods Jim, the volcano is still erupting apparently, so if the winds stay the same (which they're supposed to until the weekend) then this will probably go on through tomorrow.

So much for the early/initial estimation

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

So much for the early/initial estimation

Indeed, was rather optimistic in my opinion, I guess they were hoping the winds would shift or that this eruption would be a brief one.

Steamwake, I've been thinking the exact same thing, in fact IIRC I posted a thread on it a few weeks back, but the conclusion that we, and it seems the USGS came to, is that it's because of better reporting and the sad fact that most of these bigger quakes are happening in populated areas so far this year, that has made it seem like there's more big quakes going on than usual:

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2439

And Tribesman, that doesn't surprise me, it's got a lot of magma to shift no doubt, it's going to be a tricky time for air traffic around Europe although if the wind shifts then some airspaces might be able to reopen, and others will have to close. I don't think it'll go the whole month though, if I had to put a time frame to it...and I admit I'm rather loathe to, but for the heck of it, I'm going to say a week, maybe two. Hopefully sooner, but as the airport representatives were all saying this morning, it's in the hands of nature.

[SteamWake]

I dont buy the 'better reporting' argument. If an earthquake had killed 400 pepole in China back in say 1950 we would have heard about it. Maybe not nearly instantly like today but we would have heard of it.

[HunterICX]

Always nice of some fokes to show their nonexistent intelligence or brain function.

HunterICX

[GoldenRivet]

hey thats nothing.

One day, i had just parked and walked into the airport in full uniform.

headed down the terminal passing gate after gate to get to the crew room and sign in for my trip that was scheduled to leave in about an hour.

out of nowhere some hoity toity business suit walks up.

"I just want you to know you are a piece of fu**ing sh*t and you should be ashamed of yourself."



he walked off before i could formulate a thought as to what had just happened.

i can only guess his flight got canceled and it was somehow my fault - even though i had just got to the airport and wasnt even on duty for another 15 minutes.

[Oberon]

*resists urge to make Northerner comment*

You've got a point SW, but it wouldn't be so dramatic or in our faces as it is now. It would most likely have been a paragraph or two in a newspaper or a brief mention on the evening radio bulletin sixty or so years ago, now days in the era of rolling news broadcasts, things are a) made to sound more dramatic [to ensure viewing] and b) everything is breaking news, much more attention grabbing than a newspaper article or radio section.

[GoldenRivet]

flights cancel... flights get delayed - nature of the beast.

The hardest cancellations for people to accept are weather related delays or cancellations.

they look outside and see clear blue skies. Often the limit of their knowlege of meteorology is related to what they see out the window.

what they dont know is that 150 miles East of us there is a Squall line of thunderstorms extending from the great lakes region all the way down to San Antonio... and we arent going through that!

some of the strangest delay / cancellations

1. During my preflight inspection i noticed that all of the placards were missing from our Refuel Defuel panel. These "stickers" tell the fuelers what kind of fuel to put into the airplane, and include various limitations for pressure fueling PSI etc. By regulation the sticker has to be there. Maintenance didnt have any in stock and they had to be flown in from another location. Delay: 3 hours

2. Elderly woman evacuates bowels in forward galley upon deplaning. Regulation and company policy requires this be treated as a Hazmat / biohazard situation. Delay about 2 hours

3. Crew timeout is a big one! As flight crew, you are limited to 8 hours flying in a day. Even though this is the case, the company can have you "on duty" for upwards of 14 hours in a day. you can fly past the 8 hours... but you're wheels have to leave the ground before the 8th hour is reached.

occasionally, you might push back from the gate with 4 minutes to spare to this "time out" scenario... if you dont reach the runway in 3:59 you're done - thats it... go back to the gate or lose your license for breaking a Federal Law. this really pisses people off when you explain over the PA system "We have to go back because one or both of the pilots timed out"

4. Destination airport closing - usually a one runway airport. disabled aircraft on the runway or something.

5. once while taxiing out in rain we had the windshield wipers on. My windshield wiper stops mid whipe half way up the windscreen. This was not addressed in the manual... but there is a limitation of 140(ish) knots max speed with whipers un-stowed. so we had to taxi back and get it fixed... delay of a few hours.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by HunterICX

Always nice of some fokes to show their nonexistent intelligence or brain function.

HunterICX

Somebody should have asked that Jock where he thought Iceland was located then we could have all had a laugh looking at the puzzled frown on his ugly mug

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Somebody should have asked that Jock where he thought Iceland was located then we could have all had a laugh looking at the puzzled frown on his ugly mug

Down the high street ain't it Jim?

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Down the high street ain't it Jim?

Yeah....but that's probably an English outlet......if it had been a Scottish one the windows would probably have been boarded up