CULTURAL MAGAZINE

Airspace from Ireland to Finland closed following the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull, which sent
a plumenube of ashpolvere across flight pathsrotte aeree .

An unprecedented no-fly zone imposed across Europe following a hugevasta, enorme volcanic eruption in Iceland, caused travel chaos for over a million air passengers.

Airspace stretching from Ireland to Finland, including airports in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, was closed following the violent eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in south-east Iceland, which sent a plume of ash across some of the world's busiestpiù affollate, più trafficate flight paths.

North-westerly winds continued to blowa soffiare the eight mile high plume across the continent,
raising fearssollevando il timore that airlines could be groundedbloccate a terra for days. One volcanologist said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for six months if the eruption continued. The last time the volcano erupted in 1821, it spewederuttato, emesso ash for two years.

The pan-European shutdownblocco, sospensione affected an estimated 4,000 flights and is the most dramatic step of its kind in living memory. It caused the most international travel chaos since the 11 September attacks on America in 2001.

Airports across France closed following the lead of safety authorities in Ireland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and Denmark. Planes travelling from America to Europe had to turn back over the Atlantic and a jet carrying British forces back from Afghanistan was grounded in Cyprus. The plume is projected to spread east and south over Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic states, as well as parts of Russia.

"We certainly do not think we have over-reacted," a spokesmanportavoce for the National Air Traffic Service said, prior toprima di extending the total shutdown of all UK airports. "Safety is our main priority and volcanic ash is a serious threat to aircraft."

In 1982, a British Airways jumbo jet became a giant glideraliante when all four of its engines failed after flying through a volcanic plume over Indonesia. After a terrifying descent, the crew managed to get the engines started, before landing the plane safely in Jakarta.

The ash cloud, almost invisible to the eye, began to spread across Europe in the early hours of Wednesday before stretching east to northern Norway, Sweden and Finland and south across Scotland and the UK, engulfing Britain totally by Thursday afternoon.

The runwayspiste and apronsnastri trasportatori at Heathrow, normally the world's busiest airport, were becalmedin bonaccia (fig. tranquilli). Manchester airport was almost empty with 75,000 passengers unable to travel.

The eruption of the volcano which had been dormant for 187 years caused devastation in Iceland and civil protection teams had to evacuate around 700 residents when torrents of melt water flowed off the glacier through fields and farms. Day turned to night east of the eruption as thick grey ash fell, leading to fears among farmers for their grazingda pascolo farm animals.

Ironically, Reykjavik airport was one of the few European airports to remain open, because the wind direction carried the plume away from the country's capital.