NATO fighter jets land safely with volcanic ash damage

[daleo]

Source: Toronto Star

BRUSSELS—A senior Western diplomat says several NATO F-16 fighters suffered engine damage after flying through the volcanic ash cloud covering large parts of Europe.

The official declined to provide more details on the military flights, except to say that glasslike deposits were found inside the planes’ engines after they patrolled over European airspace.

Last week, two Finnish Air Force F-18 fighter-bombers suffered similar damage while flying through the ash plume that has paralyzed air traffic over much of Europe. Both landed safely, but their jet engines will require expensive overhauls.

Volcanic ash tends to stick to a jet engine’s interior parts, such as the turbines, where it melts to form a glassy coating. This restricts air flow and heats up the engine, which can lead to engine failure.



Read more: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/797425--nato-fighter-jets-land-safely-with-volcanic-ash-damage

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. Someone should have told the Finnish Air Force

that there's a REASON the airports are all closed.

Duh.

:hi:

[tomm2thumbs]

2. wow, you'd think they learn the first time, but guess lessons bear repeating

maybe now airlines will consider the big picture - it may not take out a plane right away, but it could be terribly damaging in the long run.

So then these planes are going to be flying into the States? Transporting us around the country?

[daleo]

4. Yes, I think this shows that caution is in order

Airlines seem to be pushing for a "let's test them by flying them until one crashes" method.

[Gman2]

3. We are fucked, we could not do war. Dear God, How can we go on?

[daleo]

5. Drones, cruise missiles, ICBMs

Maybe chariots and bows, eventually. War always finds a way.

[safeinOhio]

7. Old prop airplanes

intake is filtered. Bring em out of mothballs.

[mainer]

12. What about the newer prop planes?

A lot of regional aircraft still have props. Will they work okay?

[dencol]

15. Nope - They're turboprops.

Jet engines turn the props on the regional jets - they're more efficient that way at lower altitudes and for shorter routes.

[14thColony]

16. Most of those are turboprops.

There are very few true internal combustion engine airliners left anywhere in the world. Turboprops are just jet engines that use the power generated to turn a propeller, so pretty much the same fate as a jet turbine engine overall.

[izquierdista]

20. Still in service

They never wear out. Over 1500 are still in service 65 years after the first flight of a DC-3.
http://www.travelcentre.com.au/travel/airshows/DC3/dc3_history.htm

[14thColony]

23. How ironic...

When I was typing that I was imagining DC-3s! What a great plane. Although I hear even some of them have been converted to turboporops as an upgrade.

[BrightKnight]

22. The avionics might fail in a propeller plane

even if you could solve air filter problem.

[FarCenter]

9. In war, it is only necessary that the bombers reach their targets

They would probably not make it back through the dust thrown up be the nuclear explosions anyway.

[JVS]

6. Now is the time, Putin! Unleash the tanks!

[tridim]

11. Rear that ugly head!

[Warren Stupidity]

8. no problem. get those airliners up and running. move along. nt.

[unblock]

10. the military industrial complex is the ultimate "too big to fail" institution

so of course we all pay for any expensive idiotic waste.

[haele]

13. That's going to be a lot of work fixing those engines - also any external electronics -

Back in the bad old Desert Storm days, one of the contracts my company had was repair small shipboard and fixed-wing/helo navigational and electronic sensor radars and receivers in the back room. We would get equipment that had only been in the gulf for two-three weeks that was almost totally destroyed by sand-storm pitting and later on, some sort of noxious acid residue from the refinery fires.
That sort of equipment goes bad very quickly.
I'd hate to think what acrid ash and grit from a volcanic eruption does to turbine engines...and hate to be on a plane that's gone through a cloud a few times before I embarked. It might not happen just yet, but if they start flying again before the atmosphere settles down some, I'm willing to bet those engines will start having some serious issues within a week of regular use - and the fleet will be grounded on damaged equipment issues rather than air safety issues.

I would imagine it would cost far less to wait another couple weeks with a plane that hasn't been damaged, than be waiting almost a year with a severely reduced number of flying aircraft on the tail end of a massive fleet-wide repair action because manufacturing of replacement parts needs to catch up with demand.

Haele

[daleo]

14. Yes, the airlines better think long and hard about their best strategy

Of course they are asking European governments for a $1 billion dollar bailout already.

[dipsydoodle]

19. I hope they're learning

how to whistle too.

[dipsydoodle]

17. Anyone who wants to fly in Europe be aware

According to current European regulations, no matter how low the concentration of ash, no commercial aircraft should fly as long as it is in its path.

A statement from Nats said that there was "no threshold" for concentrations at which volcanic ash was acceptable.

The dust is simply too dangerous for jet engines to risk commercial flights encountering it, said Nats. If volcanic ash particles are ingested into a jet engine, they accumulate and clog it with molten glass, which can cause the engine to shut down.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8629609.stm

It follows that any passengers would fly at their own risk but its extremely doubtful the airlines would risk a plane coming down in a populated area anyway.

[Old Troop]

18. Maybe hot air balloons?

[haele]

21. Zepplins.

Get a good turbo-prop engine set-up with protection built in for them (after all, ships have gas-turbine engines that are encased; I'm sure you can design a fairly light-weight encasement and air-filter system that the zepplin can support, and you can get some pretty decent MPH. And you don't need to worry about it crashing if the engines give out.

Hi-yo Hindenburg!

Haele