Airlines conducted test flights safely despite volcano ash
Last updated 5/26/2010 4:15:16 PM
Strokkur geyser in South Iceland. Photo © Visit Iceland
Air France, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines have sent up test flights safely without passengers over Europe on Sunday despite official warnings about the dangers of a volcanic ash plume.
According an AFP report, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines had flown four planes through what it described as a gap in the layer of microscopic dust over Holland and Germany.
The report mentioned that KLM flew its planes of various types flew the 115-mile (185-km) flight from Duesseldorf in western Germany to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at an unspecified normal altitude above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). They did not encounter the thick though invisible cloud of ash, whose main band has floated from 20,000 to 32,000 feet, the height of most commercial flight paths.
This is fuelling a corporate push to end an economically devastating ban on commercial air traffic.
Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajokull has been spewing a column of ash since Wednesday and has drifted across most of Europe, shutting down airports as far south and east as Bulgaria.
Germany's Lufthansa flew 10 empty long-haul planes Saturday to Frankfurt from Munich at low altitude, between 3,000 and 8,000 meters (9800 and 26000 feet), under so-called visual flight rules, in which pilots don't have to rely on their instruments, said spokesman Wolfgang Weber.
Air Berlin and Condor airlines were said to have carried out similar flights.
Air Berlin, Germany's second-biggest airline, said it had transferred two planes from Munich to Duesseldorf and another from Nuremberg to Hamburg without problems on Saturday. They flew at 9,840 feet (3,000 meters).
A technical inspection of the aircraft after landing did not reveal any adverse effects.
Many European travellers are turning to alternative transport solutions such as trains, self-drive, coaches and ferries. Eurostar sees a surge in bookings on its inter-continental routes.
Meteorologists warned that the situation above Europe remained unstable due to the unpredictable eruptions and constantly changing with the varying winds.
The abrasive ash can sandblast a jet's windshield, block fuel nozzles, contaminate the oil system and electronics and plug the tubes that sense airspeed. The most immediate danger is to the engines. Melted ashes can congeal on the blades and block the normal flow of air, causing engines to lose thrust or shut down.
According to Visit Iceland website, the volcanic eruption in the South Iceland glacier is continuing but with less force than before. The Icelandic Tourist Council wishes to forewarn the public of "exaggerated news reports on the eruption" but encourages travellers to keep abreast of developments.