#ashtag update

[rm]

We're now ensconced in the guest room of our LJ rescuers. It's a lovely room, in a lovely flat, with lovely hosts, and we can see Parliament from the window, and it's all quite grand. There's a cat nosing at my toes. Yay.

Meanwhile, the news says that test flights trying to determine the safety of flying through the ash have found NO IMPACT from the ash on the planes. And I just don't know what to think, or how to process that emotionally.

On one hand, we know ash is dangerous to planes. If you've ever seen a Discovery Channel thing on this, you know, YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE IN A PLANE FLYING THROUGH ASH, because all your engines will shut down until you're clear of the ash, and you'll be lucky not to die.

On the other hand, seriously? Might it be that this ash is different? That the governments are being too cautious? THAT THIS HAS ALL BEEN FOR NOTHING? That we are trapped in the UK for no discernable reason?

And do I trust the airlines that are demanding that flight space be reopened because their test flights were safe and they are losing money? Not at all.

While our flight remains rebooked for Wednesday, the news is now saying that it is unlikely British airspace will reopen before Thursday, meaning we do not expect to get out until the weekend, although all of this is a theory right now. With the airlines exerting pressure and an emergency ministerial meeting called by Gordon Brown, I suspect anything could happen at any time.

I love the UK, and when are arrived here I was like "oh, I want to stay," but I'm a creature of plans and expectations, and being delayed bothers me slightly and not even having certitude about that bothers me _a lot_. I'm doing my best with it, and that best is pretty good, but it is awfully overwhelming to me.

I will be able to work remotely from here, although it is unideal. Patty will be able to do more daytime tourism. And I'll be able to see more London by night. If we get stuck until the weekend we'll be able to go back to the St. Katherine's Dock market again, so that's nice, and I still haven't squeezed in seeing Canary Wharf yet, so I'll have time now, although admittedly that seems a little ominous.

So yeah. It's all really, really fucked up and stressful. And it all may be for naught. Or greedy airlines and frightened governments may be about to get us all killed.

Comments

[19-crows.livejournal.com]

From the news reports I've heard and what I know of volcanic ash, no, I don't think the government and the airlines are being too cautious.

But I know that feeling of wanting to stick to plans and wanting to just be home when you planned to be there, so I can imagine your stress, and I'm sorry.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I agree. But the airlines are now saying the government IS being too cautious and are trying to demand the airspace be opened, and that's scaring the crap out of me.

[pocketmouse]

OMG. Yeah, I'd be highly suspicious too, especially considering reports like this, though that's a totally different type of plane, and I think they flew through the ash cloud multiple times at different levels, so it's hard to say how that plays out vs. a commercial flight on a single path.

Have you been linked to PPRuNe yet? It's a forum thread of pro pilots talking about the eruption's effects on EU flights.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Holy shit, those F-18 pics.

I did look at PPRuNe, but it freaked me out because it was so many pilots saying the shutdown was unnecessary, while also highlighting how completely like shit they (and everyone) are treated by the airlines. There's NOTHING reassuring about those conversations on any level.

[pocketmouse]

Ha, true. There's also no way to tell, without a lot of digging, what kind of pilots they are -- commercial, freight, nation, etc -- and that has a lot of effect on attitude and whatnot. I've mostly been skimming it to look for more-informed-than-mine opinions of the effects of ash on engines, gear, etc.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yup. Also, pilot culture is such that there's gonna be a certain amount of "I would fly through that shit."

[pocketmouse]

Oh yeah, that's definitely there. Apparently some guy (or maybe guys, plural) is going to take up a 747 to do a test flight or two.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, KLM has guys doing that, and I think Air France and BA too.

[bare-bear.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, seriously? Might it be that this ash is different?

This ash could be different, compositionally. The ash from the incident shown on Discovery was from a stratovolcano that typically has more quartz (silica) in it, thus more glass material in the ash.

There are several different kinds of volcanoes present in Iceland (it's a geologically fascinating area), but the majority are from volcanoes similar to Hawaii, where the volcanoes are of more mafic composition with little quartz in it, thus less glass. Granted, if it's this kind of volcano, this doesn't mean that the ash won't affect airplanes, since there's still all sorts of crap in it that can get into the engines, but that is one compositional difference between ash from different volcano types. But maybe that's one possible theory why they're getting different results on the test flights.

Granted, I'm a geochemist, and it's been years since my volcanology class.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

I think what it comes down to is that no airline wants to be holding a press conference in front of the charred wreckage of one of their 747s, saying, "We had erroneously ascertained that the ash's effects on the engines was negligible."

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest bopping to Camden Market, if you get a chance and if it's still there. There was a huge fire a couple of years ago and I don't know if they've had a chance to rebuild or if the place has gotten gentrified.

Hearing about your London adventures is making me miss it in ways I haven't in a very long time. I once walked from Hampsted Heath back to Goodge St. tube stop because I knew I'd eventually get back to some place I recognized. (I also walked from Goodge St. to the Barbican once to see more of the city.) I miss the markets and the proper bakeries and the wee little sandwich shops and proper book stores. Though, I don't really miss pink marshmallows much at all.

[gummitch.livejournal.com]

Camden Market's best at weekends. On the other hand, there are a couple of the 'permanent' stalls that sell army surplus stuff.

[angstzeit.livejournal.com]

I absolutely understand your fears regarding lack of control. Oddly, it was my semester in Manhattan at NYU that gives me that understanding. But also, and I know you get this, talk about being in a story. I both realistically dread being in your position and deeply envy it. Stuck in London because of an Icelandic volcano. This only needs dinosaurs to reach perfection.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Zombie dinosaurs?

[meirion.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you've found somewhere.

This might be of interest wrt ash/plane interaction.

[hopeofessex.livejournal.com]

I suspect that around the margins of the plume the flight risk is very low. However, I don't think there is much to be said for risking things at the moment.

You also don't want to degrade the engines, even if flight can be made.

[count-to-seven.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you in how frustrating this must be. It is, in its way, slightly amusing... but not so much. Just slightly.

I could rec a few cafes around the West End if you're bored.

[airspaniel.livejournal.com]

If you absolutely need a gorgeously crafted and strong artisan cocktail, there's a Cuban place at the center of Camden Market that makes the best drinks I've ever had. Freshly crushed blackberry martini with fresh cinnamon, and a kumquat mojito with real fresh kumquats. Everything else looked great, too.

Y'know, if you need to get your drink on.

It sounds like you're coping with this as best as can be expected. I hope everything goes smoothly and safely for you, and you and Patty enjoy your unexpected stay.

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

I *believe* that all the previous incidents with plane damage and volcanic eruptions were of hotter and less glassy ash. I'm going to cling to that idea for when flights resume, myself. Cold bits shouldn't be nearly as dangerous.

Being at loose ends and waiting for a call from the airlines or someone must be stressful, but I hope you can enjoy your time there(and that Patty's cold is better).

[gummitch.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you've made a soft landing.

I think with the election going on, the Government is not going to take the slightest risk that there's going to be a crash they can be directly blamed for. There's also talk of shipping people overland to Spain, and flying them out from there.

[rm.livejournal.com]

For UK citizens only, it seems. We're getting no help.

[editrx.livejournal.com]

I still haven't squeezed in seeing Canary Wharf yet, so I'll have time now, although admittedly that seems a little ominous.

May I caution, rm, that you STAY AWAY FROM WHITE WALLS.

Just sayin'. You are living way too close to the DW/Torchwood storyline as it is.

I wish my father was still alive so I could talk to him about this situation, as a pilot. He'd flown through a number of seriously bizarre circumstances during his stints both in the Navy and as a civilian, including through volcanic ash and storms I don't even want to think about (hell, he made ME copilot with him right through the middle of a major hurricane on the East Coast when I was too young to legally copilot because he refused to go around!). I do know from that particular venture with the volcanic ash, his attitude was "no one could make me to do that again -- not even the Navy," and he was a real "naw, I can fly through any shit" sort of pilot-jock.

I think the UK is taking a good pace at getting things back in the air -- and having the election coming is helping them be cautious. I know it's a huge inconvenience to you guys, but I'd rather have you back alive and well in NYC later rather than a disaster occur.

(And I'm so glad things worked out for where you are, whoever you ended up with! And a cat! Hurray! All the comforts of home but with better biscuits. :) )

[rm.livejournal.com]

I've finally seen some news on the volcanic ash that makes sense to me, which is that the cloud has six layers in it, some of which are the ones that are not damaging the test flights, but some of which are worse than anyone has ever seen, apparently, and that the test flights aren't going into. The theory is that perhaps planes could route around the worst of the strata, but if things shift suddenly while planes are in the air -- disaster. Hence the airlines advocating to get back up and everyone else being all "ARE YOU FUCKING HIGH?"

[editrx.livejournal.com]

I'm in the "ARE YOU FUCKING HIGH?" camp, as someone who used to fly, if as a civilian. I mean, shifting stratas? What, they want the pilots to play "guess which way the strata will move as we fly through it so we DON'T ALL DIE HORRIBLY"? Um ... no. Just, no. Stuff shifts in the atmosphere ALL THE FUCKING TIME. It doesn't stop. It's fluid dynamics, for god's sake. What are they thinking?

The airlines are losing tons of money and that's the bottom line for them, period. The pilots are losing money from not being at work, so that's probably making some of them say crazy stuff, but then a lot of pilots are crazier than air traffic controllers, which says a whole fuck of a lot if you've ever been with either of those groups of people for very long.

So yeah, you're going to hear a lot from the airlines (boo hoo, I'm so sorry you have a lousy business model to start with, so I'm not that sorry, no) and from some (but not all) pilots (you guys saying that shit are mostly insane, and I know this from growing up with them literally surrounding me, so gonna go with not sorry there too).

I'm actually rather glad you're over there, since Brown doesn't want a disaster on his hands and the rest of the government might agree with that, given the upcoming elections. I wouldn't have as much faith in some other places this could be happening (*cough cough*).

[rm.livejournal.com]

Word to all of this. And the pilots vs. air traffic controllers thing made me laugh out loud, because that shit is SO TRUE.

[editrx.livejournal.com]

When I was the wee age of 16, and supposedly too young to drink (hah! I was raised by a Scot who was a Navy pilot, you can guess how young he taught me to like the taste of single-malt), I was privy to a drinking bout disguised as a friendly get-together in the "club" after-hours at the-then regional airport out in Gettysburg, MD, outside DC, where my dad kept his plane. Pilots (all ex-military or even still in) and air traffic controllers.

OMG. Also: first (and only, thank god) time I ever got so drunk I woke up drunk the next day. There was a hands-off policy on the daughter of a Navy captain, but that didn't mean they didn't buy me a whole lot of liquor.

The insanity was ... epic. I vaguely remember cars being involved at some point. On the runway.

You know, I've never actually told my husband this story. Oops. LOL!