Daily Mail UK News: Remember that ashcloud? It didn't exist, says new evidence.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1268794/Remember-ash-cloud-It-didnt-exist-says-new-evidence/html?ITO=1708 & referrer=#ixzz0mG1XLbe8

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environment/Science

 

Remember that

ashcloud? It didn't exist, says new evidence.

By Sean Poulter

Apr 26, 2010 - 3:45:33 PM

 

 

Remember that ash cloud? It didn't exist, says new evidence

By Sean Poulter

Last updated at 10:28 AM on 26th April 2010

Britain's

airspace

was closed under false pretences, with satellite images

revealing there was no doomsday volcanic ash cloud over the entire

country.

Skies fell quiet for six days, leaving as many as 500,000 Britons

stranded

overseas and costing airlines hundreds of millions of pounds.

 

Estimates put the number of Britons still stuck abroad at 35,000.

 

Stranded: Hundreds of desperate Britons sleep on the basement floor at

Bangkok's International Airport, Thailand

waiting to get flights home

However, new evidence shows there was no all-encompassing cloud and,

where

dust was present, it was often so thin that it posed no risk.

The satellite images demonstrate that the skies were largely clear,

which

will not surprise the millions who enjoyed the fine, hot weather during

the

flight ban.

Jim McKenna, the Civil Aviation Authority's head of airworthiness,

strategy

and policy, admitted: 'It's obvious that at the start of this crisis

there

was a lack of definitive data.

 

False alarm? Satellite images have revealed there may never have been a

doomsday volcanic ash cloud over the UK

(file picture)

'It's also true that for some of the time, the density of ash above the

UK

was close to undetectable.'

 

The satellite images will be used by airlines in their battle to win

tens of

millions of pounds in compensation from governments for their losses.

The National Air Traffic Control Service decision to ban flights was

based

on Met Office computer models which painted a picture of a cloud of ash

being blown south from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

 

 

Eruption: The Eyjafjallajokull volcano saw flights across Europe

grind to a

halt and passengers stranded

These models should have been tested by the Met Office's main research

plane

a BAE 146 jet, but it was in a hangar to be repainted and could not be

sent

up until last Tuesday - the last day of the ban.

Evidence has emerged that the maximum density of the ash was only about

one

20th of the limit that scientists, the Government, and aircraft and

engine

manufacturers have now decided is safe.

British Airways chief Willie Walsh always insisted the total shutdown

went

too far.

'My personal belief is that we could have safely continued operating

for a

period,' he said.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Britain's

ABTA, which represents British

travel agents and tour operators, said about 100,000 stranded British

travellers should have been returned home by Monday morning.

 

About 35,000 more will remain marooned until Friday, the group said.

'While most flights are back to normal, and most stranded British

passengers

will be back by the end of this weekend, there is still quite a high

level

of disruption in some destinations.

 

'In some areas of the world, there is a significant lack of air

capacity to

enable British people to be returned quickly,' Tanzer said.

Many Icelandic airports are closed and though authorities say

Eyjafjallajokull is now producing much less ash, they confirmed no

signs of

the eruption ending.

 

 

Found at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1268794/Remember-ash-cloud-It-didnt-exist-says-new-evidence/html?ITO=1708 & referrer=#ixzz0mG1XLbe8

 

 

 

 

Related Article

 

 

'Angry airlines question airspace closure': http://abundanthope.net/pages/Environment_Science_69/Angry-airlines-question-airspace-closures.html

 

 

 

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