Satellite Images of Icelandic Volcano; Ash Plume Continues to Keep Airline Passengers Stranded Worldwide

The plume of volcanic ash drifting through European airspace continues to keep air travel on hold, including more flights today departing and arriving at Los Angeles International Airport. NASA has released several images of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano showing the scope of the natural disaster as captured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite, which communicates with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) here in Los Angeles.

While some airlines say they have flown successful test flights through the volcanic ash, a restriction on air travel remains in place in Europe, and it is not known when air travel can resume. Millions of travelers have been effected worldwide, including tens of thousands who were booked to travel by air in and out of LAX. Today 18 arriving flights and 15 departing flights (33 total) have been canceled by airlines serving London/Heathrow, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Zurich, affecting an estimated 8,250 LAX passengers, and brings the 4-day total to102 arrival and departure flight cancellations, impacting approximately 24,250 passengers.