PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

As anticipated by the TerryReport over the weekend, government and air traffic officials have arrived at work around solution to the volcanic ash over much of northern Europe. For travelers, it is still going to be a mess for days, if not weeks. Those stuck in Europe, or over here and elsewhere around the world, are not going to have it easy in getting home, but at least there will be some hope.

The decision was taken today (Monday, 4.19.10) that about 1/3 of the airspace will remained closed. This is the area where the ash is thought to be most concentrated. The decision was, further, that airport and government officials can individually decide to open airports outside that zone of exclusion. Right now, it looks like most of the airports on northern Europe can be up and running if they chose to do so Tuesday morning.

Does that mean that airliners can leave the US tonight headed for Europe? That depends largely on the airline itself. If the aircraft should arrive in Europe in the morning and find its destination closed, then there must be an alternative airport available. Chances are that most airline companies will wait at least another day, until Tuesday night, before taking off for Europe.

It is estimated that 40,000 Americans are stranded in Europe right now. Even if all operations went back to normal, it would take days work work off that backlog. Equally important, it will take as much as a week or two to get all the aircraft back onto their schedules and distributed where they need to be to meet demand.

The first decision to close airspace and airports last Thursday was taken in the UK. Other airports and nations followed as the ash cloud spread. Having made that decision, however, how was it to be reversed? Since safety is the overwhelming goal of everything in transportation and aviation, no one could step forward, lacking new information, and say it was absolutely safe to fly. The airlines and their trade associations carried that weight and finally forced a decision to resume flights during a meeting in Madrid Monday.

It should not be assumed that the ash cloud now poses no danger. Rather, it is like any other problem faced in flying, such as severe thunderstorms: the danger has to be managed, continually reassessed and safety precautions taken when necessary. Should any of the airliners taking to the air over the next few days experience an engine out because of the ash, there will be renewed calls for once again closing the skies. The airlines and their pilots know absolutely, however, that if you wait until there is no danger from any source, you’d never allow any plane to take off.

The criticism in Europe over the shutdown is going to be furious. It is easy to see all of this as a decision that overstepped the bounds of reason.  It is fairly certain that new mechanisms will be established across Europe to prevent something like this from being repeated.

Doug Terry, 4.19.10

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