Alice's Adventures in Volcano Land: The Use and Abuse of Expert Knowledge in Safety Regulation

Vincent M. Brannigan

doi:10.1017/S1867299X00000192

Alice's Adventures in Volcano Land: The Use and Abuse of Expert Knowledge in Safety Regulation

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017

Vincent M. Brannigan

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Vincent M. Brannigan*: Affiliation:
Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, Md 20742, Firelaw@firelaw.us

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As a volcano refugee in Frankfurt, it was rather interesting to see a slow motion regulatory science disaster taking place. On April 14 2010 the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted sending millions of tons of ash into the upper atmosphere. The ash cloud, blown by the prevailing winds, moved down over northern Europe. European air traffic authorities, following well established and widely published safety protocols, began shutting down the air transport system due to the well known hazard of volcano ash. The shutdown lasted 6 days and soon became an unequal political contest between airline money on the one side and regulatory science on the other. In a classic case of shooting the messenger bringing bad news the responsible airline parties tried to shift the blame for shutdown to the regulators, while nervous governments quailed before the bullying of the airline executives.

Type: Mini-Symposium on the Volcanic Ash Crisis
Information: European Journal of Risk Regulation , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 107 - 113

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1867299X00000192 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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References

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10 Available on the Internet at <http://www.ge.com/audio_video/ge/innovation/leslie_mcvey_on_volcanic_ash_and_jet_engines.html>.

11 See <http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15952464>.

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17 See <http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100424/WEEKENDER/704239842/1299>.

18 See <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/19/eyjafjallajokull-volcano_n_542411.html>.

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20 See <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63I4S420100419>.

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