EU Test Flights To Assess Impact Of Volcanic Ash On Aircraft THE HAGUE, April 18(Bernama) -- The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigati

THE HAGUE, April 18(Bernama) -- The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation made a few test flights Saturday to assess the impact of volcanic ash on aircraft, China's Xinhua news agency reported citng a Dutch ministry spokeswoman.

One KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing took off from German Duesseldorf airport on Saturday night and landed safely at Amserdam's Schiphol airport. Other test flights had taken place in France and Belgium during daytime on Saturday.

The test flights were performed at lower altitude than usual, and no passengers were on board.

These were part of a series of tests across the European Union, the spokeswoman said, "We want to see what the damage could be to the engines."

In a statement, KLM said that it carried out the test flight Saturday evening between about 19:45 and 21:00 hours Central European Summer Time (1745 and 1900 GMT) in Netherlands airspace using a Boeing 737-800.

The flight was carried out to establish whether air quality in the atmosphere met the requirements for safe flight. "No problems were encountered during the flight."

"At first glance there is no reason to suspect that anything is amiss. We observed no irregularities either during the flight or during the initial inspection on the ground." CEO of KLM, Peter Hartman said.

"We hope to receive permission as soon as possible after that to start up our operation and to transport our passengers to their destinations."

KLM expects to receive the final results of the technical inspection Sunday morning.

Sumber : Bernama