Askeskyen fra vulkanutbruddet på Island i 2010 - norsk krisehåndtering og noen erfaringer

In April 2010, the European air traffic experienced an unprecedented closure. This was due to the eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. The dispersion of volcanic ash led to closure of the Norwegian air space 15th of April 2010. There were two critical periods in the volcanic ash crisis, the 14th −28th of April and 3rd −23rd of May 2010. The restrictions in aviation created challenges in the health sector, particularly in the northern part of Norway where people are highly dependent on air ambulances because of long distances to the hospitals. The volcanic ash crisis had extensive economic consequences and implications, but there were no deaths due to lack of air ambulances. The main research question in this report is to identify the most relevant actors at a national and regional level (Northern Norway), as well as military actors who contributed during the crisis. Further, we analyse their roles and how well the actors collaborated. The report will examine the role that the different actors had during the crisis and the communication between the different actors. Finally, the current report describes some lessons learned in the aftermath of the crisis. The general impression is that the Norwegian authorities and the affected parties handled the crisis in a proper manner. Authorities quickly established the governmental crisis council for the ministries with The Ministry of Transport and Communications as lead. Eight ministries, the Prime Minister‟s Office and six other entities participated. The crisis management by the central authorities thus came forward as unified, well founded and the information was well coordinated. Air Traffic actors handled the crises well. Informing and communicating with other authorities, private actors, media and the public were successful. The largest uncertainties were connected to measurements and prognoses for the dispersion of volcanic ash in air and the potential danger and effect for airplanes. The authorities first adopted a strict precautionary approach and closed of the air space. This was later changed to a regime based on three zones. The Ministry of Health and Care Services and the health sector in Northern Norway were particularly affected, since closure of all civil air traffic also had consequences for air ambulances. The health sector emergency preparedness was strengthened with resources from the health sector in Southern Norway and by use of military resources. The civil-military cooperation was strengthened and improved during the crisis. Social media became an important channel to distribute information for the air companies. Several official authorities also realise the importance media for information purposes, and plan to use it in their communication with the public. One has witnessed various types of learning that has led to new initiatives. For example, an interagency expert group for volcanic ash, alternative emergency routes for buses in the northern part of Norway, research and development of ash sensors on aircrafts, drones that can measure the ash level in a volcanic ash cloud, further development of video-based emergency medical conference in the Norwegian health sector and various international initiatives aimed at improving our knowledge of volcanic ash and aircraft engines.