Ash from another Iceland volcano eruption has caused massive airplane flight cancellations across northern Europe. The enormous ash cloud is capable of knocking out jet engines, leaving tens of thousands of travelers stranded on six continents. While Iceland tourism quickly benefitted from the spectacular site, it is now causing the largest disruption in standard travel operations since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The second Iceland volcano eruption within the last month occurred Wednesday beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier. This time, 700 people from rural areas around the volcano were evacuated due flash floods and shooting smoke caused by the force of the eruption. The problematic ash began floating towards other parts of Europe, potentially affecting aircraft visibility, as well. The New York Times explains:
"The ash from the volcano, Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced EYE-a-fyat-la-jo-kutl), was reported to be drifting at 18,000 to 33,000 feet above the earth. At those altitudes, the cloud is directly in the way of commercial airliners but not an immediate health threat to people on the ground, the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network, based in Britain, said on its Web site.
According to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, during the early afternoon in London there was still 'significant eruption continuing,' with the plume reaching 15,000 feet, but 'occasionally' as high as 33,000 feet.
On Thursday, 5,000 to 6,000 of the 28,000 daily flights across Europe were canceled as a result of the ash plume, said Lucia Pasquini, a Eurocontrol spokeswoman."
Since that report, Germany closed 11 airports as the ash cloud made its way over the country. Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Belgium are some of the other countries that closed their air space. London's Heathrow airport normally hosts flights for 180,000 travelers a day; on Thursday, all flights were cancelled.
AccuWeather in the United States predicts that the ash cloud will continue to affect flights to, from, and around Europe through at least Sunday. Ironically, since the ash has drifted away from Eyjafjallajokull, the Iceland volcano eruption did not affect the country's Keflavik airport. It remains open for North American flights.
