Iceland Volcano's Ash Grounds European Air Travel 283
Ch_Omega writes "From the article at CBSNews: 'An ash-spewing volcano in Iceland emptied the skies of aircraft across much of northern Europe on Thursday, grounding planes on a scale unseen since the 9/11 terror attacks. British air space shut down, silencing the trans-Atlantic hub of Heathrow and stranding tens of thousands of passengers around the world. Aviation officials said it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again and said it was the first time in living memory that an ash cloud had brought one of the world's most congested airspaces to a standstill.'"
The BBC says "Safety group Eurocontrol said the problem could persist for 48 hours," and the Deccan Herald describes some of the effects on the ground in the volcano's home turf: "In Iceland, hundreds of people are fleeing rising floodwaters as the volcano under the glacier Eyjafjallajokull erupted yesterday again, for a second time in less than a month."
great name (Score:5, Funny)
My cat can type words like Eyjafjallajokull too.
Re:great name (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The fkn Brits deserve this. (Score:2, Funny)
I live in the Netherlands, am Scandinavian and side with Iceland on this issue. Please avoid collateral damage on us expats.
Revenge for the Icelandic / English Bank Crisis (Score:5, Funny)
England and Iceland have been in a huff ever since a lot of English tax dodgers lost their fortunes in Icelandic banks that went tits up. The British have been threatening Iceland with everything, even including their major satire weapon weapon of mass destruction, "Viz" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viz [wikipedia.org] )
The Icelandians have responded with volcanic gas.
Let's hope that this situation doesn't escalate.
Damn those sons of Vikings (Score:5, Funny)
First they fucked up our fishing, then they fucked up our economy, now they're fucking up our air. I say we INVADE these unpronounceable herring-botherers.
Re:great name (Score:3, Funny)
every hairball....
Dear Iceland (Score:1, Funny)
We said "Send *cash*"!
Re:Nothing unusual (Score:3, Funny)
except for that whole high alt ash cloud.. that won't block out the stars any, nope
Re:Nothing unusual (Score:2, Funny)
Brown condemns Iceland over terrorist volcanoes (Score:5, Funny)
ALING, Heathrow, Thursday (NTN) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown has condemned Iceland's terrorist attack on British air travel and their refusal to refund tourists' air tickets.
The UK government used anti-terrorism laws to freeze all British-held assets of Umhverfisráðuneyti, the Icelandic Ministry Against the Environment, after minister Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir threatened to further unleash the power of the Katla volcano in the wake of the devastation to school holidays caused by Eyjafjallajökull.
Thousands of confused and angry passengers wandered around Britain's becalmed airports today trying in vain to find out how long the disruption caused by the ash cloud might last. "Can't we just, you know, give the planes a try?" said Brenda Busybody, 54 (IQ), of East Cheam. "I wanted to go and rest on holiday, and Monday I'm back to doing nothing in the office. I pay my licence fee!"
The Prime Minister offered his outrage and sympathy, in lieu of money or anything useful. "This is fundamentally a problem with the Icelandic-registered El-stodth Thyonustah Voweld," said Mr Brown, attempting not to choke on his own tongue. "They have failed the people of Iceland and they have failed the people of Northern Europe! You pay my licence fee! Er, hold on ..."
Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir also offered her sympathies to British travellers. "But, you know, we're still pretty upset about the cod."
Re:Aha! (Score:3, Funny)
Re: your sig
If you learn of an Apple-Google-Nintendo merger, do not be troubled. For you are in Eyjafjallajokull, and are already dying of volcanic ash!
Re:Revenge for the Icelandic / English Bank Crisis (Score:5, Funny)
Dear Iceland,
We said "send CASH".
Yours sincerely,
United Kingdom
Re:Revenge for the Icelandic / English Bank Crisis (Score:5, Funny)
Quote:
Dear Iceland,
We said "send CASH".
Yours sincerely, /Quote
United Kingdom
Dear United Kingdom,
You should have stopped to consider that there is no letter "C" in the Icelandic alphabet [wikipedia.org] before issuing your demand.
Re:great name (Score:5, Funny)
I blame Mattel for changing the Scrabble rules to allow proper nouns. Within a couple of weeks of them doing it we have a volcano in Eyjafjallajokull, and the Kyrgyz president fleeing the country. Coincidence, I think not.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Nothing unusual (Score:5, Funny)
Ah yes, the icelandic trout. Most modern airliners now have somke detectors for just such problems.