© APMay 21: Smoke plumes from the Grimsvotn volcano, which lies under the Vatnajokull glacier, about 120 miles east of the capital, Rejkjavik, which began erupting Saturday for the first time since 2004.
The country's main airport was closed and pilots were warned to steer clear of Iceland as areas close to the Grimsvotn (GREEMSH-votn) volcano were plunged into darkness Sunday evening.
Officials appeared to be responding to the ash with a radically different approach than last year, when European aviation authorities were sharply criticized for closing large swathes of airspace in response to the April 2010 eruption of another Icelandic volcano. Many airlines said authorities overestimated the danger to planes from the abrasive ash, and overreacted by closing airspace for five days. Thousands of flights were grounded, airlines lost millions of dollars and millions of travelers were stranded, many sleeping on airport floors across northern Europe.
Britain's Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Jonathan Nicholson said authorities had no plans to close airspace, even though an ash cloud classified by Met Office spokesman David Britton as high-density was expected to cover parts of Scotland by 6 a.m. local time (0500 GMT; midnight EDT) Tuesday.
Comment: This eruption may well merit caution, but remember that we've been here before and been bamboozled before:
'Ashteria' is a Pretext to Shut Down International Air Travel