Light Aircraft down in Hampshire
cheesy_pasty
Posts: 4,302 Forum Member
✭✭✭
Just saw it flash up on SkyNews website.
Two people dead....but I wonder how long it'll be, before the news agencies blame the volcanic ash for bringing down a light aircraft....
Two people dead....but I wonder how long it'll be, before the news agencies blame the volcanic ash for bringing down a light aircraft....
0
Comments
Indeed. But I still suspect someone will blame the ash at some point.
even the most irresponsible media outlets would be hard pushed to directly blame the volcano on this
The Air Investigation Branch will do a very thorough job, and the cause will be revealed then.
I doubt it has anything to do with the ash.
I agree. Just something went horribly wrong somewhere.
Ash can clog the engines and very much could cause a plane to crash.
Nah, sod it. Let's just use a couple of people's deaths as an excuse to take a pop at the media for something they haven't done yet.
Nice.
Yes, indeed.
I'm guessing we're talking about a Cherokee or a Cessna or something here, so no - no more than your car engine. The reason jets are susceptible is a) they have to fly high enough to be efficient and that means in the ash cloud and b) the air going into the combustion chamber of a jet engine can't really be filtered, unlike a piston engine.
It is odd.
And volcanic ash can bring planes down, so I don't really see what the OP is saying.
I agree with others that this would be unlikely, but since it is a possibility, you couldn't really blame the news for mentioning it. I mean, they stopped all commercial flights for a reason.
No, my point is that the news HAVEN'T said that yet, yet the OP is more concerned about mocking them for the fact that they might, and might be wrong about it if they do (and they might be right if they do; I'm no expert but it seems like it COULD be a causal factor- EDIT- lemoncurd knows more about this than I and says probably not, but it's not really relevant to my point either way), and doesn't seem too bothered about the fact that people died. When exaggeration on telly is seen as worse than death, then something's gone VERY VERY wrong with us.
They can't bring down small piston aircraft like this one, especially flying at low levels.
I do apologise for taking a pop at the media, and I do have sympathy for the families involved and it is a tragic accident. I guess I jumped the gun, but I am willing to bet the media will end up (not in all cases) twisting it until a definate cause is found.
I never said that the matter of peoples lives weren't as important. I damn well know they are more important; and I never said otherwise.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/apr/15/volcanic-ash-bad-for-planes
"the ash can wreck the function of propeller or jet aircraft, because it is so fine that it will invade the spaces between rotating machinery and jam it".
Yes, it's unlikely they were flying high enough to be affected, but it's still a possibility that lower down dust could clog the engine. Dust is already settling in some areas so it obviously exists at a lower level too.
Edit: And we'll have to see if the media say it's ash if it later turns out it isn't, but apparently, they haven't yet and I presume the cause is still unknown too.
There was another light aircraft quite recently that came down, and that was before all the volcanic stuff. Surely the fact that light aircraft are generally piloted by people that are skilled amateurs means that they will be more predisposed to having problems, and that those problems will be more likely to end with the plane being downed purely because the pilots don't have as much training to cope with unusual situations?
The ash is also very high in the airspace so the RAF aircraft are having a ball, I saw two fighters flying over Prestwick today, in normal times that would not have been allowed,
It also means that light aricraft can pootle around inside the Heathrow TMA withougt worrying about traffic. A friend and I were mooting the idea of doing a cross-country flight from Filton to LHR tomorrow, but then decided against it because of the landing fees there!:eek: