Volcano's billowing ash disrupts global air travel

A troublesome ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano has grounded flights across Europe and elsewhere, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded in what has been called the largest disruption of flights since the 2001 terror attacks.

The flight problems emerged after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland on Wednesday, which spewed ash into the air, creating a risk that debris could be sucked into airplane engines. Ash clouds can also cause visibility problems for pilots.

The ash cloud from the eruption is presently located above the Atlantic Ocean along a flight path that many planes travel when crossing from the Eastern United States to Europe.

By Thursday afternoon, dozens of overseas flights from Canada had been cancelled as European transport hubs closed down.

Air Canada has cancelled all flights to and from London's Heathrow airport, Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport and Frankfurt airport. Other carriers, like Air Transat, have also stopped flying to London.

The dangers to air traffic caused British authorities to quickly put all non-emergency flights on hold until Friday morning, as the ash posed "a significant safety threat to aircraft," the United Kingdom's National Air Traffic Service said.

As the day progressed, cancellations and shutdowns followed right across Europe.

Retired captain Vince Charron told CTV News Channel that flying into such dust clouds can be "disastrous" for aircraft.

He said that the "minute, gritty particles" can not only cause engine troubles, but they can "sandblast" a jet's windshield and leading edges.

"You have to avoid these massive, volcanic clouds at all costs," he said.

How long the delays will last is still unknown, as the volcano continues to spew ash and steam into the air, with some debris being carried toward Northern Europe.

It isn't yet clear if travel plans will be interrupted for world leaders heading to Poland for the state funeral Sunday of Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

Geophysicist Einar Kjartansson, of the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said it all depends on timing.

"It is likely that the production of ash will continue at a comparable level for some days or weeks. But where it disrupts travel, that depends on the weather," Kjartansson said Thursday. "It depends on how the wind carries the ash."

Authorities in Iceland also began evacuating about 700 people from rural areas near the volcano out of fear that flash floods could strike.

Heathrow headaches

The shutdown at Heathrow caused immediate problems for the 1,200 daily flights landing or taking off from Europe's busiest airport, along with the 180,000 passengers they carry.

As Heathrow also serves as a major trans-Atlantic hub, many dozens of U.S.-bound flights were delayed and cancellations at airports where flights were headed into Northern Europe.

In Toronto, at least 11 flights were cancelled by Thursday afternoon. Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson Trish Krale said other flights could be affected as the day wore on.

Departures and arrivals in Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver and Halifax have also been cancelled.

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration said it would do what it could to reroute flights around the problematic ash loud.

In Paris, officials shut down all flights to the French capital, as well as to 23 other airports.

Frustrated travellers

The unexpected delays left passengers -- including some royalty -- frustrated with their inability to get where they needed to go.

In Norway, King Harald V and Queen Sonja had planned to fly to Copenhagen Thursday to celebrate the 70th birthday of the Danish queen. Instead, they eyed taking a "car, boat or train" to the event. Meanwhile, Jens Stoltenberg, the prime minister of Norway, was stranded in New York after finding himself unable to fly back to Europe.

Rachel Baker, a 23-year-old Cambridge University researcher was trying to fly into Boston to visit her boyfriend. But with the delays in effect, she wasn't going anywhere.

"It's so ridiculous it is almost amusing," Baker said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Toronto resident Ann Cochrane said she wished she "was on a beach in Mexico" instead of being stranded at an airport in Glasgow.

Still, some European travellers may be entitled to reimbursements under European Union legislation, established in 2004.

Prior volcano issues

The U.S. Geological Survey says it has records of 100 incidents in which aircraft encountered volcanic ash while up in the air between 1983 and 2000. While there have been problems reported, there have not yet been any fatalities.

Thirty years ago, airlines were less cautious about flying through the ash clouds, Kjartansson said. Now they are more aware of the dangers.

"There were some close calls and now they are being more careful," he said.

The U.S. agency reports that volcanic ash can melt inside of an airplane engine before solidifying. Incoming ash can arrive in particles ranging from 0.001 millimetres to 2 millimetres in size.

In 1989, a Boeing 747 flew through an ash cloud that came from Alaska's Redoubt volcano and ended up losing power to all four of its engines. The plane landed safely after the crew managed to get the engines restarted.

That same decade, the pilot of a Boeing 747 was forced to look out a side window when landing after the plane's windscreen became encrusted with volcanic grit.

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press