Iceland's volcanic ash halts Europe flights on tailwind of BRILLIANT ARDENT refueling mission

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  RAF Mildenhall aircraft were grounded this afternoon as Iceland's volcanic ash moved closer to the Suffolk base.

It's still unclear whether or not refueling missions in support of the BRILLIANT ARDENT and FRISIAN FLAG exercises would resume tomorrow.

Still, with their usual precision and dedication, a 351st Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 crew offloaded gas to four Spangdhalem Air Base, Germany, F-16 Fighting Falcons before returning to RAF Mildenhall.

RAF Mildenhall is not the only base suspending flights this evening. According to the Associated Press, London's Heathrow Airport has also suspended their flights for the rest of the day. The same goes for civilian flights across most of Northern Europe.

"We are scheduled to resume supporting the NATO exercises BRILLIANT ARDENT and FRISIAN FLAG tomorrow provided weather is suitable for flight," said Capt. Sarah Cook, 351st ARS scheduler.

Today's refueling mission was in support of BRILLIANT ARDENT, a large-scale NATO Response Force Air Live Exercise hosted by Germany which began April 12 and will run through April 22.

According to a United States Air Forces in Europe news story, participation by U.S. Air Forces in Europe units directly aligns with the command key mission areas of providing forces for global operations and building partnership.