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As on April 29, 2010 Taken from: Wikipedia - Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption The second eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland on 14 April 2010 caused extensive air travel disruption. In response to fears that ash ejected by the volcano would damage aircraft engines, the controlled airspace of many countries was closed to instrument flight rules[citation needed] (IFR, flying on instruments only) traffic in what became the largest air traffic shut-down since World War II. This action caused millions of passengers to be stranded not only in Europe, but across the world. The eruption occurred beneath glacial ice. The cold water from the melting ice chilled the lava quickly, causing it to fragment into very small particles of glass (silica) and ash, which were carried into the eruption plume. Due to the extremely fine nature of the ash particles and the large volume of steam produced from the glacial meltwater, an ash plume that is hazardous to aircraft was rapidly sent high into the upper atmosphere. The presence and location of the plume depended upon the state of the eruption and the winds. Due to the way air masses function, and because of the large volume of steam produced by this eruption, the plume was injected into the jet stream. With large parts of European airspace closed to air traffic, many more countries were affected as flights to and from Europe were cancelled. At 20:00 UTC on 16 April the ash cloud reached Kazakhstan. As of 17 April 2010 (2010 -04-17)[update], the eruption was continuing, but less explosively; the plume was rising to 5 kilometres (3 mi) rather than 13 kilometres (8 mi) previously; not high enough to travel across Europe.[9][clarification needed] The forecast for 18 April at 06:00 showed a significant plume continuing over northern Europe.[10] Jet stream forecasts indicated the ash cloud plume would persist until at least 21 April, shifting to the south and affecting more southerly parts of France and Italy. Iceland's airspace remained relatively unaffected, being mainly upwind of the eruption site. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that the airline industry worldwide would lose €148 million (US$200 million, GB£130 million) a day during the disruption. More info: Wikipedia - Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. |