Was There an Over Reaction to the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano Eruption: Where is the Analysis?

It was almost a month ago that the now infamous Icelandic volcano “Eyjafjallajokull” erupted. Since then it has been sporadically spewing a mix of toxic gases and ash into the atmosphere. Thanks to catching a ride on the jet stream the output of the mid-April eruption has managed to create a major head-ache hundreds of miles to the east. As the weather experts warned of ash clouds
invading air-space above Europe, the aviation safety experts, erring on the side of caution, decided to ban flying, causing the biggest mass-grounding of airplanes since 9-11.

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The cascading effect of thousands of flight cancellation has resulted in untold misery for millions passengers stranded in major hubs and airports across Europe and beyond.

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Airplanes not only carry passenger but they also transport millions of tons of freight and mail.

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As the daily losses continued to mount some in the Airline industry took matters in their hands, flying test planes over the banned skies, reporting very little or no accumulation of volcanic ash in the jet engines, the main culprit that could cripple the jet engines potentially leading to a
disaster.

It appears that weather forecasters are good at forecasting where the toxic ash clouds are headed but are at a loss to predict/forecast the concentrations of ash particles that are hazardous to airplanes.

Thanks in no small part to loud complaining by the airline industry the aviation authorities have lifted flight bans in some parts of Europe.

In the mean while the volcano has continued to do its own thing totally ignoring the human response. It appears that once again the ash clouds are headed towards European skies.

Hopefully it does not turn into another “Ground Hog Day” for the millions of stranded passengers!