Slashdot Mirror
Iceland Volcano's Ash Grounds European Air Travel
Ch_Omega writes "From the article at CBSNews: 'An ash-spewing volcano in Iceland emptied the skies of aircraft across much of northern Europe on Thursday, grounding planes on a scale unseen since the 9/11 terror attacks. British air space shut down, silencing the trans-Atlantic hub of Heathrow and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world. Aviation officials said it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again and said it was the first time in living memory that an ash cloud had brought one of the world's most congested airspaces to a standstill.'"
The BBC says "Safety group Eurocontrol said the problem could persist for 48 hours," and the Deccan Herald describes some of the effects on the ground in the volcano's home turf: "In Iceland, hundreds of people are fleeing rising floodwaters as the volcano under the glacier Eyjafjallajokull erupted yesterday again, for a second time in less than a month."
My cat can type words like Eyjafjallajokull too.
The last eruption was in 1821 and lasted 2 years... you better get yourself some train tickets if you want to travel in Europe!
The trouble with ash and aircraft is that, at the high temperatures found in jet engine combustion chambers, ash turns into a delightful material extremely similar to molten glass(you also have the less immediately dramatic; but still annoying, problem of having the ash particles basically sandblasting the surface of the aircraft).
Best case scenario: some rather expensive repairs, including replacing scratched glass and engine parts(or even entire engines).
Worst case scenario: Fiery death.
England and Iceland have been in a huff ever since a lot of English tax dodgers lost their fortunes in Icelandic banks that went tits up. The British have been threatening Iceland with everything, even including their major satire weapon weapon of mass destruction, "Viz" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz )
The Icelandians have responded with volcanic gas.
Let's hope that this situation doesn't escalate.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Any pissed off European travelers stuck in the airport reading /. may want to read KLM vs. Mt. Reboubt before hitting the friendly skies.
First they fucked up our fishing, then they fucked up our economy, now they're fucking up our air. I say we INVADE these unpronounceable herring-botherers.
When this Iceland volcano erupts, nearby Katla always goes up soon after. A major eruption of Katla could give us another "Year without a summer" in the northern hemisphere.
Help stamp out iliturcy.