With no signs of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland stopping its latest eruption, international flights to and from Europe at Denver International Airport were cancelled for the second day in a row in Friday. The ash plume from the volcano has cancelled thousands of flights worldwide and stranded tens of thousands of passengers.
Travelers through Denver expect the weather to cause problems but rarely would they think a volcano more than 3,500 miles away would cancel their travel plans.
Both United Airlines and British Airways canceled their non-stop service to and from London Thursday and Friday and it now appears Saturday’s flights will be cancelled as well. London’s Heathrow Airport is reporting that it will remain closed until at least 1:00am (local time) on Sunday.
As the ash cloud has spread, so too have its effects. The European air traffic control agency, Eurocontrol, said that flights have also been grounded in France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Belgium.
Volcanic ash presents a very real danger not only those close to an eruption but also to airplanes flying anywhere in the vicinity. The ash from volcanoes can travel hundreds of miles and when ingested by jet aircraft engines, can result in a total loss of power.
KLM Flight 867, a 747 bound for Anchorage, Alaska in December 1989 inadvertently flew into ash that had been discharged by Mount Redoubt. All four engines lost power for give minutes and the aircraft fell from 27,900 feet to 13,300 feet before it was able to restart its engines.
In 1982 a British Airways 747 flew through the ash cloud of an erupting Mount Galunggung in Indonesia. All four engines on the aircraft lost power but were able to be restarted after the aircraft exited the cloud.
More information on the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption from the Natural Disasters Examiner: