BA test flight.
Discussion
British Airways sent out a jumbo on a test flight earlier to see if it's safe to fly yet.
I saw it land at Cardiff airport a few minutes ago from where it'll go into the BA maintenance facility to see if the ash has had any effect on the engines etc.
It'll be interesting to hear the results.
I saw it land at Cardiff airport a few minutes ago from where it'll go into the BA maintenance facility to see if the ash has had any effect on the engines etc.
It'll be interesting to hear the results.
StripeyNick said:
British Airways sent out a jumbo on a test flight earlier to see if it's safe to fly yet.
I saw it land at Cardiff airport a few minutes ago
Surely then it's safe. If it wasn't it would have crashed. I saw it land at Cardiff airport a few minutes ago
That's a bit like ducking a witch, if she drowns she's not a witch, if she floats she's a witch, burn her.
Don't understand these test flights by operators... Surely issue is that there 'could be' some (however) thin layers of dust out there in patches and just because this test flightl flew through clear, or substantially clear, air, that does not mean that there might not be particles in another area that 'could' present a hazard...
Furthermore, why use a 747-800 for the test! Perhaps it is intrinsicially safer to use a 4-engined plane? Don't they have some older, cheaper multi-engined planes that they could 'risk'?
Of course, there is a natrual tendency for those in authority to over-react to safety issues these days.. I don't beleive that we can fight that - we just have to live with it. I would however, leave the testing of the atmosphere to the 'experts'! But it may turn out that we need 'new experts' after this!
At the end of this episode, I might imagine that there will be a massive pan-EU public inquiry and a massive investment in 'laser' or some other technolgy to monitor the atmosphere on a constant basis.
Furthermore, why use a 747-800 for the test! Perhaps it is intrinsicially safer to use a 4-engined plane? Don't they have some older, cheaper multi-engined planes that they could 'risk'?
Of course, there is a natrual tendency for those in authority to over-react to safety issues these days.. I don't beleive that we can fight that - we just have to live with it. I would however, leave the testing of the atmosphere to the 'experts'! But it may turn out that we need 'new experts' after this!
At the end of this episode, I might imagine that there will be a massive pan-EU public inquiry and a massive investment in 'laser' or some other technolgy to monitor the atmosphere on a constant basis.
MogulBoy said:
Furthermore, why use a 747-800 for the test! Perhaps it is intrinsicially safer to use a 4-engined plane? Don't they have some older, cheaper multi-engined planes that they could 'risk'?
There isn't a 747-800 passenger plane yet. It is only a freighter and the pax version will probably be scrapped as the A380's popularity has made it uneconomical for airlines to purchase.They used a 747-400; no they don't have any other four engined aircraft to risk. And the 747-400 is four engined.
StripeyNick said:
British Airways sent out a jumbo on a test flight earlier to see if it's safe to fly yet.
I saw it land at Cardiff airport a few minutes ago from where it'll go into the BA maintenance facility to see if the ash has had any effect on the engines etc.
It'll be interesting to hear the results.
I bet Eric Moody was not flying it...I saw it land at Cardiff airport a few minutes ago from where it'll go into the BA maintenance facility to see if the ash has had any effect on the engines etc.
It'll be interesting to hear the results.
Each Airline has a different area of focus. For instance BA's focus was on the Western sector for its transatlantic routes.
KLM ,Lufthansa, Air France etc will have their own priorities which will determine which direction they fly. (And levels)
All this information can be analysed, but really is invalid except at time of the test. However the data can be correlated to the ambient conditions and build up a model of ash particulate per air percentage/ damage, which eventually can be applied in a scientific manner rather than the Hose pipe type ban we currently have. This type of event is unprescedented, usually we know where the Volcanoes are and fly round them and their ash, this one we cant.
Just because an Aircraft safely lands does not mean that it is undamaged, indeed it may well have suffered sufficient damage to be unflyable for a considerable time.
KLM ,Lufthansa, Air France etc will have their own priorities which will determine which direction they fly. (And levels)
All this information can be analysed, but really is invalid except at time of the test. However the data can be correlated to the ambient conditions and build up a model of ash particulate per air percentage/ damage, which eventually can be applied in a scientific manner rather than the Hose pipe type ban we currently have. This type of event is unprescedented, usually we know where the Volcanoes are and fly round them and their ash, this one we cant.
Just because an Aircraft safely lands does not mean that it is undamaged, indeed it may well have suffered sufficient damage to be unflyable for a considerable time.
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