Gisborne, Rotorua, Taupo and Palmerston North May be affected.

The aviation colour code around Mt Tongariro was downgraded from red to orange, but the volcanic alert level remains. The plume from the eruption last night was steam-driven and 7000 m high. The colour code is used to alert aviation carriers to volcanic activity.

The post Tongariro Disruption first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

Entitled Flight Safety and Volcanic Ash (Doc 9974), the manual provides guidance which States may recommend to aircraft operators when there is forecast volcanic ash contamination, placing the responsibility for such operations on the operator, under the oversight of the State regulatory authority.

The manual is based primarily on the work of the ICAO International Volcanic Ash Task Force (IVATF), set up by the organization and the aviation community following the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökul Volcano in Iceland which caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe.

“The impact on air travel of the Eyjafjallajökul eruption was unprecedented. It forced us to align our guidance material with the latest technological and scientific developments. The new approach, while ensuring the safety of flight operations, provides more flexibility and recommends that the decision to operate a flight in airspace containing volcanic ash rest with airlines, under the supervision of State regulatory authorities,” said Raymond Benjamin, Secretary General of ICAO.

To ensure that the safety-critical information is readily available to Member States and the industry, the manual is now accessible in English at www.icao.int/publications/Pages/doc-series.aspx.

The post Volcanic Ash Manual Now Available from ICAO first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The second week of eruptions of the Puyehue volcano in southern Chile’s Andes mountains is alarming authorities who anticipate the ash cloud will cause further flight delays as it lingers in the atmosphere. All flights from Buenos Aires are suspended. Flying through the ash cloud damages engines.

The airspace over Perth and Tasmania are also being affected by the ash plume.

Some flight services across the Tasman Sea also remain suspended.

Flight delays are still being experienced across South America including Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

The post Ash Cloud Buenos Aires first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.

The Toulouse VAAC (Volcanic Ash Advisories) maps out the ash cloud:

And the official text advisory of June 15 from VAAC is below:

VA ADVISORY (text)
DTG: 20110615/1200Z
VAAC: TOULOUSE
VOLCANO: NABRO 0201-101
PSN: N1322E04142
AREA: AFRICA-E
SUMMIT ELEV: 2218M
ADVISORY NR: 2011/09
INFO SOURCE: METEOSAT IMAGERY
AVIATION COLOUR CODE: NIL
ERUPTION DETAILS: STRONGER ERUPTION MAINLY PRODUCING SO2
OBS VA DTG: 15/1200Z
OBS VA CLD: SFC/FL200 N1105 E03935 – N1240 E04130 – N1105 E04300 –
N1105 E03935 FL200/400 N1310 E04205 – N1255 E03715 – N1455 E03815 –
N1310 E04205
FCST VA CLD + 6H: 15/1800Z SFC/FL200 N1215 E04155 – N1105 E04420 –
N1105 E04035 – N1215 E04155 FL200/400 N1310 E04215 – N1215 E04040 –
N1225 E03705 – N1435 E03735 – N1310 E04215
FCST VA CLD + 12H: 16/0000Z SFC/FL200 N1240 E04200 – N1205 E04330 –
N1050 E04440 – N1050 E03950 – N1240 E04200 FL200/400 N1305 E04155 –
N1230 E03900 – N1235 E03515 – N1415 E03535 – N1305 E04155
FCST VA CLD + 18H: 16/0600Z SFC/FL200 N1225 E04205 – N1205 E04430 –
N1015 E04530 – N1020 E03905 – N1225 E04205 FL200/400 N1430 E03405 –
N1305 E04150 – N1155 E03930 – N1235 E03400 – N1430 E03405
RMK: VOLCANIC CLOUD MAINLY COMPOSED OF SO2
NXT ADVISORY: NO LATER THAN 20110615/1800Z

See our article Hot Volcanoes Cool Air Travel for more details.

The post Nabo Rings Danger and Caution over African Skies (and Spreading) first appeared on George Hatcher's Air Flight Disaster.