Reply #48: No,it's the pilots. Out. [View All]

ANGRY PILOTS: IT'S SAFE FOR US TO FLY NOW

Monday April 19,2010
By John Ingham

PILOTS and airlines led protests against the aviation lockdown last night, claiming it was perfectly safe for aircraft to fly at lower altitudes.

Germany’s Lufthansa and Air Berlin, and KLM from the Netherlands have all carried out test flights in the past few days and said there was no damage to their planes.

British Airways yesterday became the latest airline to send up a test flight to check the dangers posed by ash.

One former airline pilot said: “There seems to be a bit of an overreaction by the authorities. Nobody has previously shut down airspace over such a large area due to a volcanic eruption and you have to question whether the evidence for this is cast iron.”


http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/170080/Angry-pilots-It-s-safe-for-us-to-fly-now



And on the weekend Steven Verhagen, vice-president of the Dutch Airline Pilots' Association, pointed out that risk can never be entirely eliminated.

“We are asking the authorities to really have a good look at the situation, because 100 per cent safety does not exist,” he said. “It's easy to close down air space because then it's perfectly safe. But at some time you have to resume flights.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/carriers-push-to-reassess-danger-and-reopen-skies/article1538732/