FD2 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:28 am
We once left a Sea King overnight at Sumburgh Airport with the blades spread and a storm during the night bent one of the blades back like a banana, despite tie downs being fitted to all the blades. I think one knot wasn't tied very well and the rope just pulled through, but it was about 45 years ago so a bit foggy in my mind.
Left a GA-7 Cougar tied down with bollards and yoke lock at Tingwall airfield and departed the mainland for the island of Vaila. One of those Shetlands summer storms blew in and I received a call from the airfield to say that wind had bent the lock, damaged the yoke attachment and bent various pins in the control system. Took two days for the sea state to calm down to allow return to review the damage and another two days for engineer to fix damage and get the work signed off. As you say, the Shetlands is not a place to be taken lightly at any time of year.
With respect to the use of drones to reconnoiter White Island, preparatory to the helicopters returning to collect the bodies on the island it seems that the wind has not allowed their use and some of the helicopter community feel that the recovery approach taken by the authorities is too timid as helicopters could have flown in the last 24 hours.
I guess it is a very hard one for the relevant authorities to call as the volcano is still venting and showing the possibility of another eruption.
White Island's level of volcanic tremor significantly increased on Wednesday morning local time, said GeoNet, which assesses geological risk in New Zealand.
The tremor suggests that volcanic gas pressures remain high, the agency said.
Since around 4:00 am this morning the level of volcanic tremor has significantly increased at the island. This has been accompanied by vigorous steaming and localised mud jetting in several of the craters created by the eruption on Monday. We interpret these signals as evidence of continued high gas pressures within the volcano.
The situation remains highly uncertain as to future activity. Eruptions in the next 24 hours are still likely to occur.
https://edition.cnn.com/australia/live- ... index.html