Ash From Volcano Grounds Flights Across Europe (with video and photo gallery 150 photos)
Theunis Bates
The volcano, which is located underneath the Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH'-plah-yer-kuh-duh) glacier in the south of the island, blew up Wednesday -- the second eruption in the past month. Some 800 Icelanders were evacuated from the surrounding area as the intense temperatures around the volcano triggered a glacial melt, causing floods that swept away roads and swelled rivers by up to 10 feet.
The high-altitude dust cloud has effectively grounded all flights out of Britain, Norway and Belgium, and caused cancellations at major hubs in Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and France. All British airports, including London's Heathrow, Europe's busiest terminal, were closed by midday today local time, and it was not clear when flights would resume.
"We strongly advise passengers intending to fly from this time not to travel to the airport today," BAA said in a statement. "We will provide further updates as we get more information from [the] air traffic provider."
Christine Campbell, 55, had been scheduled to fly from Glasgow Airport to La Rochelle, France, for her son's wedding. "When we arrived, we were told there were no flights going out today and to go home. But I wanted to come and wait anyway because I didn't want to miss anything," she told the Daily Mail. "I'm really disappointed and upset because I've been looking forward to this wedding for two years, and at the last minute there's this hiccup."
Travelers outside Europe have also felt the eruption's shock waves. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it was delaying some Europe-bound aircraft flying from U.S. airports, while carriers including Continental Airlines said they were canceling services until the skies were clearer. Many planes traveling between North America and Europe, which often fly over or stop off at Iceland, have also changed their flight plans.
Airborne volcanic debris is a serious hazard for pilots, as it can coat aircraft windows and seriously limit visibility. But even more dangerous is when ash particles enter a super-hot jet engine and melt into glass, which can clog up vital mechanisms and cause the engine to seize up and sputter out.
The perils of being trapped in an ash cloud were revealed in 1982 after a British Airways passenger jet lost all of its engines while flying through eruption debris from Mount Galunggung in Java. The plane's captain, Eric Moody -- later hailed by aviation commentators as a "master of understatement" -- calmly announced to passengers, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them under control. I trust you are not in too much distress."
Moody glided the plane out of the ash cloud, and the engines restarted once the jet was in the clear. However, on the approach to Jakarta Airport, the crew couldn't see anything through the dust-smothered windscreens and had to land using instruments alone -- a maneuver Moody later described as "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse."
The crew succeeded in safely landing the plane without injury to any of the 263 people on board -- a feat that earned the fliers numerous awards for bravery, including Her Majesty the Queen's Commendations for Valuable Service in the Air. Displaying a typically dry British sense of humor, the crew and passengers later formed the "Galunggung Gliding Club" as a way to keep in touch.
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April 15, 2010