Eyjafjallajokull

Eyjafjallajokull is the name of the glacier over the volcano currently disrupting air travel across Europe. I must tune into a world news program video to see if anyone dares try to pronounce it. Few reporters seem to attempt to spell it. I went to Wiki to see what they had to say:

Eyjafjallajökull (pronounced [ˈɛɪjaˌfjatlaˌjœːkʏtl̥], translated as "island-mountains glacier") ( listen (help·info)) is one of the smaller glaciers of Iceland. It is situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull.  Easy for them I suppose. I listened four times and am no wiser. But I feel that a volcano under a lessor glacier on an island that can totally shut down air traffic in Europe and disrupt everyone's travel plans deserves some respect. But that is not what this blog is about.

This blog is about what happens after the ash stops spewing -- though volcanologists say they see no end. What will happen if history is any indicator is all the airlines effected by this will claim they are on the verge of bankruptcy. All the countries where they are based will panic about the collapse of an essential transportation/communication (mail) link and bail them out. It is what happened after 9/11 because airplanes were grounded for two weeks.

What should happen is the same amount of money and effort should be expended to lessen the dependency on air traffic. Geologists tell us we have just been through a 200 year period of relative quiet on earthquakes and volcanoes. We have already seen an uptick in quakes and there are here in the United States no fewer than five volcanoes being closely watched especially since recent activity on faults could increase the chances of eruption.

The world needs to stop putting all its eggs in one basket. Coordination of alternate forms of transportation and use of alternate routes needs to be a top priority of the G8.

Black Boxes

My masthead here (old newspaper term) says this blog is about political issues. So maybe discussing black boxes, which are in fact orange, is not political and belongs on Sidetracked Charley instead.

But with the loss of an Air France passenger jet in extremely deep waters putting the recovery of the black boxes, which are in fact orange, in severe doubt it raised questions as to why they don't float? Or better yet given the technology and the many communication satellites circling our globe why they don't emergency up-link data when something significant happens like sudden lost of altitude.

There are two black boxes in every commercial aircraft. One records communications in the cockpit like, "oh, shit." And the other records key flight instruments and controls like flaps and hydraulics, etc. In this country the FAA mandates these devices to insure passenger safety by careful analysis of what went wrong in a crash. In the recent years there has been more and more question about the safety of an aging fleet of commercial aircraft and the degree to which the FAA has given passes to already financially strapped airlines.

And evidently the Federal Aviation Administration, its budget cut to the bone by 'smaller government' Republican administration, hasn't the manpower to perform all inspections required. Add to this the aviation lobby (right in there with the big boys of tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, NRA) which whines every time it has to fix or upgrade something to meet safety standards, and it is highly possible the technology for better recording and transmission of flight data in an emergency, or just ejector mechanisms and floatation devices does exist and airlines have fought it as too expense to upgrade their fleets.

Obama has promised to curtail the influence of lobbiests in the United States. I think he ought to look first at the lobby efforts that diminish the safety of the public. Prescription drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes need to be reined in. But also automotive companies, airlines, and communications. And after we are finished with the safety issues let us go on to rates and throw in utility companies.

But we should start with those black boxes. Why don't they float?