RAF Typhoon training halted as ash found in engines

RAF Typhoon training halted as ash found in engines

news.bbc.co.uk

Training flights on RAF Typhoons in Lincolnshire have been suspended after ash deposits were found in the engines of four aircraft.

The fleet is being checked at its base in Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

An RAF spokesman said the Typhoons were "very high performance jets" so staff were "just being extra cautious".

According to the BBC's Richard Scott, the Civil Aviation Authority has pointed out that military planes fly much faster and suck in far more air than their civilian counterparts.

It says the work done with manufacturers to clear the UK for flying again did not factor i

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Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Icelandic volcanic ash alert grounds UK flights
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To me this is quite concerning given that the flight ban has now been lifted on passenger fligts in the UK. Whilst the article is quick to highlight that the jet planes are very differnet from regular passenger planes and suck in a lot more air than a passenger plane, surely the 'risk' is still there. Passenger planes are on the go, back and forth all day evryday, i dont think jet planes being used for training are. Then wouldnt this be a factor they should be looking at too? Personally i think that the flight ban was lifted due to the pressure put on the enforcers of the ban by the airlines that were making massive losses whilst the ban was imposed....which they hope to seek compensation for by the government. What will happen when a planes engines fails due to a build up of ash and falls out of the sky...who will be to blame then?? The airlines have been quite vocal in stating that the ban was an over precautious measure...but was it?? I have bolttled a small bottle of volcano ash that was deposited on my car overnight in lincolnshire....whilst it is a lovely keepsake of the event, it does concern me.

news.bbc.co.uk
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reply to post by MCoG1980


In addition, a flight had to be aborted that was due to rescue stranded holiday makers when the pilot smelt what he thought may be volcanic ash on a manchester to crete flight:

It was due to head to the Greek Island to rescue passengers stranded due to the Iceland volcano ash cloud chaos.
In the cockpit recordings, the unnamed pilot said: 'We've had the smell of ash in the aircraft and twice one of our enging bleed-airs has failed.
'We're pretty sure it's volcanic ash.'
It came on the first day the skies were re-opened and the government admitted it had been 'too cautious' after closing the airways for six days following the eruption of Eyjafjallokull.
When asked by the controller if the situation was an emergency, the pilot responded from the cockpit: 'Negative.
'But I think we may be requesting descent to 350 [35,000ft] when we've got ourselves sorted. We may be requesting further descent if we can't get this thing to pressurise properly."
The flight was then given permission to land at Manchester airport and the captain added: 'In the climb, we could smell the ash.

'The smell stayed on for a while. Once we'd levelled at 39 [39,000ft] we then lost one engine bleed, so we've taken all the required actions for volcanic ash encounter.'
The Boeing landed safely at after the pilot requested an immediate landing.
A spokesman for Thomas Cook denied the flight had been re-routed due to volcanic ash and blamed a 'minor technical fault with its air conditioning'.

She said the aircraft was back in service and had been used this morning for another rescue flight.
'When the Thomas Cook Airlines TCX 952P developed a minor


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[edit on 22-4-2010 by MCoG1980]

I have a feeling that this new "development" is anything but.

It's another scare tactic.

Airlines are big employers. How do you destroy economies? You destroy big companies operating in those economies.... simple.

Why I came up with that thought, I don't know, but I did.

The main reason I wanted to post here was because my initial thought, is that this is another "scare" for us to contemplate. It's another reason to be fearful, and to hope that our governments will help us out of the situation....

Well I'm going on holiday to spain in august but if planes start dropping out of the sky between now and then I'm not going to be flying anywhere.