Three European Airports Reopened......

[sail7seas]

I just heard some airports in Germany, Spain and maybe in Southern France opened some airports. A good sign they are trying to get some traffic moving.

[RuthC]

That's not helping me, but it's good news for many. I'm happy for them.

[sail7seas]

At least it lends 'hope'...... It's a start.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hopefully things will keep inproving.

[Ine]

Might be good news, but many airports in Europe are still closed. So schedules will be very limited. Also not all airplanes are stationed where they have to be.

Tonight Amsterdam will check what the situation is, which they have done very few hours the last few days. Hopefully all airports will open soon and thousands of stranded passengers can get to their destinations.

Apparantly Ryanair has decided not to fly to Scandinavia untill Wednesday.

[sail7seas]

KLM has been a leader in sending up planes to test the conditions. From reports I have heard, they are saying they encountered no problems and have submitted their facts and data to air control for Netherlands. Let's all hope it results in good news for travelers.

 

[Himself]

I don't think it helps if you are in the states and flying across the pond to Europe. The planes all fly the great Northern route and that takes them right through the volcanic ash. It would be very dangerous. I might be able to fly from Orle to Lourdes-Tarpes in South Western France of from Lyon to Lourdes-Tarpes but I don't one could fly from An international airport and fly across the ocean, that would be dangerous.

[sail7seas]

I heard some commentators say there is mumbling this is the 'swine flu of aviation' and an over-reaction. Certainly I have no clue if they are right or not and no airline wants to find out they made a horribly bad choice and did not err on the side of caution.

 

By now most of us have heard of the airliner, years ago, that flew through an ash cloud and it was a miracle it got its engines restarted after falling to 10,000 feet.

[Himself]

Can you imagine being on a plane that falls 10,000 feet and then gets the engines started again? My heart skips beats even thinkiing about it.

[peaches from georgia]

What would worry me more than getting to Europe would be to get there and the winds shift or there is more volcanic activity and I couldn't get home. Those in Europe now had no way to foresee this problem, but I would take the 'getting home' factor into consideration if I had to decide now whether to go or not if it becomes possible.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Can you imagine being on a plane that falls 10,000 feet and then gets the engines started again? My heart skips beats even thinkiing about it.

 

A number of years ago we were on a flight from Atlanta to Rio -- we had turbulance that caused us to drop a few thousand feet -- was I terrified?? Oh Yes!! My heart didn't didn't stop poubnding for over an hour. Glad DH hadn't had his heart attack before that cruise.

We had a couple of crew members that were hurt as they were trying to clean up from dinner and were not strapped in a seat.

[Krazy Kruizers]

What would worry me more than getting to Europe would be to get there and the winds shift or there is more volcanic activity and I couldn't get home. Those in Europe now had no way to foresee this problem, but I would take the 'getting home' factor into consideration if I had to decide now whether to go or not if it becomes possible.

 

 

I agree that I would be more worried about getting back to the states if the volcano would to start really acting up again.

I know that if we had a cruise booked for Europe -- even if we had already paid the final balance, we would cancel it.

[sail7seas]

Can you imagine being on a plane that falls 10,000 feet and then gets the engines started again? My heart skips beats even thinkiing about it.

 

 

Noooooo, I CAN'T imagine that. I would be terrified and it surely wouldn't do anything good for my 'repaired' heart. We have to fly soon to get to our Maasdam cruise and this will probably be stuck in my mind now. :-(

[jtl513]

By now most of us have heard of the airliner, years ago, that flew through an ash cloud and it was a miracle it got its engines restarted after falling to 10,000 feet.

Saying "falling" or "dropping" makes it sound like it was a rock, or caught in a downdraft (what many people incorrectly call an "air pocket"). In fact it was a controlled descent, much like coming down for a landing with the intent of getting into denser air for the engines. Still a serious situation, definitely, but not like a parachutist whose 'chute doesn't open! :)

[Copper10-8]

Airlines and their national civil aviation authorities have to take this situation very seriously. On 15 DEC 89, a KLM 747 at FL 25,000 outside Anchorage, AK lost all four engines after flying through an ash cloud from Mount Redoubt, AK. This caused the aircraft to descend (25,000 ft to 12,000 ft in 8 minutes) until the flight crew was able to re-light two engines at 13,000 feet and the remaining two at 6,000 feet. The aircraft landed safely at Anchorage without any injuries. Definitely an attention getter!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLM_Flight_867

 

Two similar incidents occured in 1982 caused by ash erupting from Mount Galunggung in Indonesia.

On 06 JUN 82, a British Airways 747 plunged five miles after failure of all engines before crew members could restore power and make an emergency landing in Jakarta. The plane was headed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Perth, Australia, with 240 people aboard. No one was hurt.

On 15 JUN 82, a Singapore Airlines 747 traveling from Singapore to Melbourne, Australia, descended more than 7,000 feet with its engines malfunctioning before crew members could restore power and make an emergency landing in Jakarta. There were 230 on board; no one was hurt.

[katmai]

Saying "falling" or "dropping" makes it sound like it was a rock, or caught in a downdraft (what many people incorrectly call an "air pocket"). In fact it was a controlled descent, much like coming down for a landing with the intent of getting into denser air for the engines. Still a serious situation, definitely, but not like a parachutist whose 'chute doesn't open! :)

We are talking about British Ariway 009 in 1982.

It actually did a nose dive from 36000 ft to 10000 ft, because all 4 engines failed due to volcanic ash.

Since there is no more power, the cabin lost pressure, so it has to dive to lower altitude for people to breathe.

It was a very quiet dive in darkness with no sound.

Luckily, at 10000ft, they were finally about to restart the engine, saving 263 lives.

[Cruzin Terri]

I know that I don't want on the first plane to cross the pond when they start to fly again.

I'll wait and see how it goes.

Terri

[sail7seas]

We are talking about British Ariway 009 in 1982.

It actually did a nose dive from 36000 ft to 10000 ft, because all 4 engines failed due to volcanic ash.

Since there is no more power, the cabin lost pressure, so it has to dive to lower altitude for people to breathe.

It was a very quiet dive in darkness with no sound.

Luckily, at 10000ft, they were finally about to restart the engine, saving 263 lives.

 

 

That is the incident about which I was speaking.

Thank you for the details.

 

I wouldn't be nervous to be the first plane to cross the Atlantic. They are not going to take any risks with this...... thus all these flights having been cancelled. I believe they'll know when it is safe.

[luvs2travl]

I agree that I would be more worried about getting back to the states if the volcano would to start really acting up again.

 

I know that if we had a cruise booked for Europe -- even if we had already paid the final balance, we would cancel it.

 

 

This is exactly what our concern is - getting back!! We have had this cruise paid-in-full for over a month, but we have the "Cancel-for any-reason" insurance, which we always take. This would be the first time we've ever used it -if indeed we decide to cancel tomorrow.

 

We're waiting to talk with our TA in the morning to see if we can transfer the amount we've paid over to another cruise - perhaps next month or the month after that. My feeling are like those of tbrein - I don't want to be in the "trial run" plane, either!! :eek:

 

There's nothing to say that this thing can't calm down & then start right back up again, and take her "sister" volcano with her next time. DH is all set to cancel - I'm taking a "Let's see what our TA has to say" attitude before we make a final decision. I know it's causing those that are stranded over their major $$$ - not to mention all other modes of transportation (ferries, trains, buses, no rental cars anywhere..) are wait-listed for several days out already. No hotel rooms - and they are asking people to stay away from the airports, so where is one supposed to go IF one is stranded?

 

Oh well - I'm sure we'll be able to reschedule something for later on this spring or early summer. Air is covered as well, so I would just need to go on-line & cancel all the shore excursions that we so painstakingly agonized over!

 

Thanks for all the well wishes & good thoughts! We'll be going somewhere, that's for sure!! :)

[fridaythecat.u.k.]

British air space is closed until at least 7pm tomorrow, although the airlines are calling for a review into the closure of air space...

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8628323.stm

[sail7seas]

This is exactly what our concern is - getting back!! We have had this cruise paid-in-full for over a month, but we have the "Cancel-for any-reason" insurance, which we always take. This would be the first time we've ever used it -if indeed we decide to cancel tomorrow.

 

We're waiting to talk with our TA in the morning to see if we can transfer the amount we've paid over to another cruise - perhaps next month or the month after that. My feeling are like those of tbrein - I don't want to be in the "trial run" plane, either!! :eek:

 

There's nothing to say that this thing can't calm down & then start right back up again, and take her "sister" volcano with her next time. DH is all set to cancel - I'm taking a "Let's see what our TA has to say" attitude before we make a final decision. I know it's causing those that are stranded over their major $$$ - not to mention all other modes of transportation (ferries, trains, buses, no rental cars anywhere..) are wait-listed for several days out already. No hotel rooms - and they are asking people to stay away from the airports, so where is one supposed to go IF one is stranded?

 

Oh well - I'm sure we'll be able to reschedule something for later on this spring or early summer. Air is covered as well, so I would just need to go on-line & cancel all the shore excursions that we so painstakingly agonized over!

 

Thanks for all the well wishes & good thoughts! We'll be going somewhere, that's for sure!! :)

 

 

Such a hard decision to make. Like everyone else, my biggest fear is being unable to get home and not being able to get a decent hotel room etc

 

I don't know if we would cancel or not. It's easy to hypothetically say what one would do but no one really knows until they really have to make the decision.

 

Best Wishes. Let us know what you decide.