Would you fly today?

[Goochie]

If you had planned a holiday or business trip with a flight from Heathrow this afternoon but the airline said "There's a bloody great big load of ash up there, you can fly but at your own risk" - Would you fly?

This question assumes pilots and crew have already agreed to fly.

[maser_spyder]

I am, but I'll wait until the end of the week, thanks.

[Flippin' Kipper]

Yea, what's the worst that could happen?

[Tangent Police]

What I don't like is them changing their mind. It's hardly confidence inspiring.

[FourWheelDrift]

I think the cloud is too far from Iceland and too light to cause any effects (it's all spread out and thin). The BA 747 that flew into the cloud in 1982 was closer to the source of the eruption.

[Chris_OCR]

I would, however I would be stting it.

I do not think I would be prepared to do a flight over 3 hours however.

[Ewan S]

Well my car and all my neighbours cars are all covered in a very fine dust that has got progressively worse over the last week. This doesn't normally happen so must be due to the volcano. Would I want to fly with all that dust clogging up jet engines? Probably not!

[soad]

I don't think i would. Leave the dust to settle and all that.

Edited by soad on Monday 19th April 17:42

[Blue Cat]

What worries me is that the airlines like BA are saying that they want "self-regulation" to decide it's safe to fly or not and look how well that worked out with the banks.

Can you trust Willy Walsh from BA to put people before profit. His flying trip of yesterday was more of a PR stunt than any proper study - like that MP feeding his child hamburgers during the BSE issue.

Would I fly, not at the moment.

[Mojooo]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

If the Nut that holds the Wheel says its Ok, its OK by me too.

Depends, maybe he works for BA and has been pressured into it

[anonymous-user]

Blue Cat said:

What worries me is that the airlines like BA are saying that they want "self-regulation" to decide it's safe to fly or not and look how well that worked out with the banks.

That's exactly what happens with volcanic eruptions everywhere else in the world. Places where they have eruptions much more regularly than Europe.

What's safer, decisions being made by people having to operate the aircraft in the actual volcanic area or the met office using computer based cloud predictions not even designed for tracking volcanic ash?

Edited by el stovey on Monday 19th April 18:00

[B17NNS]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

If the Nut that holds the Wheel says its Ok, its OK by me too.

I'd pretty much agree with that. If a crew far better qualified than I deem it safe, I'd be more than happy to fly.

[Blue Cat]

el stovey said:

Blue Cat said:

What worries me is that the airlines like BA are saying that they want "self-regulation" to decide it's safe to fly or not and look how well that worked out with the banks.

That's exactly what happens with volcanic eruptions everywhere else in the world. Places where they have eruptions much more regularly than Europe.

What's safer, decisions being made by people having to operate the aircraft in the actual volcanic area or the met office using computer based cloud predictions not even designed for tracking volcanic ash?

Edited by el stovey on Monday 19th April 18:00

Actually I would follow the advice of the engineers who build these engines and the volcanologist who know about volcanic eruptions and how each eruption is different as to what it throws up in the air rather than a airline company who is losing money each day their planes sit on the ground.

[FourWheelDrift]

Ash cloud has now grounded 9 flights in Canada. Has it just gone around the world or are the Trade Winds and Gulfstream reversing. Arghhh. (thinks of "The Day After Tomorrow" film) we're all doomed.

[Diderot]

I hate flying and it isn't safe anyway.

[Flanders.]

I would. I'd even like a go in the driving seat .

[Big Rod]

There are old pilots and there are bold pilots..............

If the driver says it's good to go then I trust him.

All stems from a bomb scare we had on a flight out of Birmingham, (UK), once we'd embarked and disembarked then told there was a 'scare', they sent the dogs in and found nothing. The pilot told us that if he wasn't sure it was safe to fly then he wouldn't be on the plane either.

In my mind there's one profession that really wants a quiet day at 'the office' and that's them.

I've been on many a flight where I've thought it a little headstrong to proceed and I'm still here.

[drivin_me_nuts]

At the moment no. it worries me that the financial pressure will become so overbearing that it will influence decision making.

If it comes down to a stark choice between safety and bankrupcy, then my view will be safety every time. If you can't be sure that they will stay up, then don't send them up. On a slight side note, does anyone else find it a tad irritating how the scientific view is now the critical deciding factor in all of this yet odd that when it comes to zeitgeist politicians are so adept at ignoring it wrt drugs policy.

[elster]

I don't quite understand the posters confidence in the pilot.

The cloud is not ash for starters. It is silica.

I would prefer not to have glass forming in the engine TBH.

It may be OK on one flight, but how about after 10 flights through it, or 100?

[RobDickinson]

I flew yesterday.

Southern hemisphere though..