Affected thousands of ash flight delays

About 500 flights were cancelled in Europe on Tuesday, air traffic management body Eurocontrol said.

Flights from some airports in Scotland and northern England would be affected until 0100 BST on Wednesday, air traffic services company Nats said.

But the transport secretary said there should not be significant disruption for UK airports after Tuesday night.

Services at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Barra, Prestwick, Cumbernauld, Tiree, Carlisle and Durham Tees Valley could be affected until early on Wednesday.

UK air traffic control service Nats said the latest information from the Met Office showed no. volcanic ash was predicted in UK airspace from 0100 BST on Wednesday.

NATs said further updates would be made if the situation changed and passengers are advised to continue to check with their airline before travelling.

Meanwhile, Germany's Meteorological Service says airspace over the country's northern cities, including Bremen and Hamburg, will close from 0400 TSB (0500 local time) because of elevated levels of ash in the atmosphere.

The UK's emergency response committee, Cobra, met earlier to discuss the knock - on effects of the ash cloud.

After the meeting, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said there was cautious optimism for the coming days.

He said the ash plume had decreased in height and intensity, and south-westerly winds were predicted for the next two days which would move the cloud away from the UK.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) divides the airspace into areas of high-, medium-and low-density ash, and airlines wishing to fly in areas of medium - or high-density ash need to get a safety case accepted by the authority.

It said earlier that, although no. airlines had applied to fly in high-density ash, some had applied for, and been given, permission to fly in medium density.

Test plane

Mr Hammond said British Airways had been talking to the CAA to get permission to fly in higher density ash cloud areas in certain circumstances.

BA sent up a plane to test the ash on Tuesday evening.

An Airbus A320 left Manchester to fly over Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh before heading to Heathrow airport where the plane and its performance will be examined by engineers.

Continue reading the main story During last year's disruption, the advice was for planes to avoid the ash at all costsSince then, the CAA has worked towards a better understanding of what engines can takeThere are now three recognised levels of ash concentrationLow: 0 to 0.002 grams per cubic metreMedium: 0.002 to 0.004 grams per cubic metreHigh: Over 0.004 grams per cubic metreThere are no restrictions on flying in low ash concentrationHowever if an airline wants planes to fly through medium or high concentration ash, it must put forward a "safety case" to its aviation authority showing it has assessed whether the aircraft will be able to copeThe safety box includes information from a series of tests and consultations between the airlines plane and from manufacturersMr Hammond rejected claims by Irish carrier Ryanair that it would have been safe to continue flying in the areas of higher density ash cloud.

"We're quite prepared to talk to airlines about ways in which we can improve the regime on the basis of a properly demonstrated safety box," he said.

"But we're not going to be bullied by airlines or by anybody else when our primary responsibility is the safety of aircraft in British airspace and passengers leaving British airports."

Ryanair said it had safely made a test flight through ash over Scotland.

The airline said its 90-minute flight at 41,000 ft showed there was "No. visible volcanic ash cloud or evidence of ash on the airframe, wings or engines".

Goal a CAA spokesperson said: "The CAA can confirm that at no time did a Ryanair flight enter the notified area of high contamination ash over Scotland this morning."

The following airlines announced cancellations in the UK on Tuesday:

British Airways was not operating any flights to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and NewcastleKLM cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle as well as from Durham Tees Valley AirportAer Lingus cancelled 12 flights to and from Glasgow, Aberdeen and EdinburghFlybe cancelled 11 flights to and from ScotlandBMI cancelled all flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow for the rest of TuesdayLoganair, based in Glasgow, cancelled 38 flights. Only inter-island routes in Orkney are unaffectedEastern Airways was not operating any services in or out of Scottish airspaceEasyjet cancelled flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen and NewcastleRyanair cancelled all flights to and from Scotland for the rest of Tuesday

Airports affected included Londonderry, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Prestwick, Durham Tees Valley, Newcastle and Carlisle.

Passengers had been waiting at affected airports in the hope of getting flights.

At Glasgow airport, Guy McKinven, from the Clyde Valley area, was attempting to travel to Stansted.

Travel plans were thrown into disarray for hundreds of passengers at Glasgow airport

He said: "you see people shouting and getting upset, but there's nothing you can do." "It is frustrating, but that's just the situation."

The cancellations come just over a year after another volcanic eruption in Iceland caused widespread disruption across Europe, including the closure of UK airspace, amid concerns about the volcanic ash could damage cause to engine aircraft.

The Grimsvotn volcano in Vatnaj?kull National Park began erupting on Saturday and closed Iceland's airspace for a period.

Experts say the eruption is on a different scale to the one last year and ash particles are larger and, as a result, fall to the ground more quickly.

Frances Tuke, from travel industry body Abta, urged passengers to contact their airlines, which he said had legal obligations to their customers.

He said passengers could have a claim under European "denied boarding" regulations.

These state that if a flight is cancelled or delayed for more than five hours, passengers are entitled to be either re-routed, given a replacement flight or a refund.

The Foreign Office is advising passengers to remain in regular contact with their travel agent or airline for the latest news on the status of flights and bookings.

Icelandic government adviser Professor Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson said the volcanic eruption was slowing down "day by day" and he believed the "worst is over".

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Flight Air France 447: black boxes indicate pilot error caused the Accident

Almost two years after Air France flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 228 people, black boxes of the aircraft, discovered early last month reveals actions drivers may cause the accident.

Data from the aircraft and voice recorder were found with the wreck of the aircraft to more than 13 000 feet below the ocean surface.

Flight 447 had taken off from the Brazil and was bound for Paris when, at 35 000 feet altitude and nearly four hours of flight, the plane apparently encountered heavy icing. Cherry caused a speed sensor malfunction, which meant that the on-board computers received defective speed readings and confusing.

With computers unable to process the information of speed creates confusion, the automatic pilot closed, leaving the jumbo jet suddenly in the hands of the cockpit crew.

ABC news has confirmed that, when the emergency began, the captain was out of the cockpit on a break. With probably sounding alarms, his teammates, may be confused, tried to diagnose the problem. A German newspaper reported Captain rushed toward the cockpit shouting of orders to his two co-pilots.

William Voss, President and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, told ABC News that the pilots could be diverted to deal with the emergency situation.

ABC News has learned the jumbo jet, an Airbus A330 was still flying, but apparently, drivers did not need to take the necessary to keep the jet in the air. They may have stolen too slowly, causing the aircraft to gain time and tumble out of the sky. The Wall Street Journal for the first time that the crew did not fail to fly the aircraft properly.

"In General, up to altitude, you have much extra room," Voss, "because the engines produce enough thrust to keep you y and you have a small enough margin for where the nose may be inclined to maintain altitude.".

Pilots had apparently not been trained to handle exactly this kind of emergency situation.

Voss said even though the aircraft get more complicated and automated, it is important to focus on simple emergency procedures and steps to let the technologies to interfere with the flight of an aircraft bases.

Airbus, Air France and the French researchers have refused to publicly comment on the information provided by the black boxes.

Qantas flight returns to Bangkok after the judgment of the engine

SYDNEY - a flight Qantas Airways returns to Bangkok Friday after the pilots were forced to close one of the engines of the aircraft, the latest in a string of incidents involving engines Rolls-Royce.

Qantas said a four engines experienced "high vibration and temperature" shortly after take-off of Boeing 747.

"The plane landed an hour later to Bangkok in a standard landing." "This was not an emergency situation and has no connection any with Rolls-Royce in a last year A380 engine incident," said a spokesman for Qantas.

The flight was bound for London.

A confined engine failure or blowing in a Rolls Royce Trent 900 engine forced a Qantas Airbus A380 to make an emergency landing at Singapore last November and has prompted the temporary grounding of the fleet for the Australian carrier A380.

A Cathay Pacific aircraft made an emergency landing at Singapore with an engine problem Monday. Rolls-Royce said that it will support the investigation into the incident