Volcanic ash stops flights over Europe

Over 50 percent of the transatlantic flights between the US and Europe today are expected to be canceled due to the volcanic ash cloud, formed after the eruption of a volcano in Iceland. The Thursday eruption of the volcano, located at 200 km east of the Icelandic capital Reykjavik, caused the discharge of a huge cloud of volcanic ash, leading to closure of airspace over a number of countries in Northern and Western Europe, including UK, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries.

Projections indicate that the cloud of volcanic ash will continue to move east and southeast, but its impact over air traffic will continue for at least the next 24 hours.

Volcanic ash can cause significant damage to the fuselage and the engines of an airplane. Around 100 aircraft were affected by clouds of volcanic ash between 1983 and 2000, according to data from the American Geological Institute. In some cases the engines briefly stopped working after intake of volcanic particles, but there were no fatal accidents.