Volcanic ash and its impact to be discussed at aviation conference Iceland

The Eyjafjallajokull and Aviation conference, organised by the Keilir Aviation Academy in cooperation with ICAO, IATA and others, will take place between September 15th and 16th 2010. Aviation leaders, experts and policy-makers from all over the world will gather at Keflavik Airport in Iceland to discuss what lessons have been learnt from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption.

The aviation conference will cover topics such as; What happened at Eyjafjallajokull? Why was Europe’s airspace closed? What procedures were followed? What has been learnt? What are the effects of volcanic ash on airplanes and can they been reduced? What steps are to be taken, and by whom, to minimise the threats that volcanic ash poses to aviation?

Confirmed speakers at the aviation conference include; Mr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson President of Iceland, Mr. Daniel Calleja-Crespo Director of Air Transport European Commission, Ms. Nancy Graham Director ICAO Air Navigation Bureau, Mr. Karsten Theil Regional Director of ICAO’s European and North Atlantic Office, Mr. Gunther Matschnigg Senior Vice President for IATA Safety and Operations, Mr. Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus Secretary General AEA, Mr. Graham Lake Director General CANSO, Mr. John Vincent Head of Safety Analysis and Research EASA, Mr. Douglas Kihm BOEING Technical Fellow, Capt. M. Manfred Birnfeld senior flight test engineer AIRBUS, Mr. Patrick Emmott SVP Technical Service Rolls-Royce, Eng. Jacques Renvier SVP SNECMA, Steve Creamer Brussels FAA Executive, Mr. Tom Hendricks ATA Vice President-Operations and Safety.

It has also been announced that the Guest of Honour will be Captain Eric Moody, the captain who glided the famous British Airways Flight 9 B747 out of volcanic ash to safety on 24 June 1982.

Participants will be informed about how the aviation and science communities can work together to increase safety and efficiency in dealing with future eruptions. Confirmed speakers will come from the civil aviation authorities across Europe, Russia, China, the U.S., and the European Commission. In addition to aviation authority members, scientists from the University of Iceland, USGS, NASA NILU, and DLR will also be discussing the issues of volcanic eruptions and volcanic ash detection and distribution.

For additional information about the Eyjafjallajokull and Aviation conference and for registration details, log on to http://en.keilir.net/keilir/conferences/eyjafjallajokull