Accidental firing from Canadian general's rifle to be probed

Accidental firing from Canadian general's rifle to be probedIt has been informed by officials that European airlines grounded for a fourth day by ash from a volcanic eruption on Sunday conducted test flights through a layer of volcanic ash.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that the inability to fly through the ash without damaging jet engines has left thousands of travelers stranded and caused mounting economic losses. As the volcano continued erupting in Eyjafjallajokull, the plume of ash spread as far south as Italy, which closed some airports in the northern part of the country.

Officials further told the Times that airlines in Germany, the Netherlands, Britain and France sent jets without passengers through the ash Sunday and all flights managed to land without incident. However, there was no word aviation authorities planned immediately to relax restrictions on European airspace.

The BBC also reported that the ban on flights in British airspace has been extended through early Monday, as the volcanic dust covered the entire United Kingdom.

British Airways canceled all Monday service into and out of London and Lufthansa canceled its full schedule of flights Monday.

Airports in northern France, including Paris, will not open until Tuesday morning at the earliest, French officials said.

It was reported by the International Air Transport Association that the airline industry likely would lose more than $200 million a day because of the canceled flights.

Association spokesman Steve Lott said, "The bottom line is that it could not have happened at a more difficult time for airlines that are trying to climb out of the global recession."

The New York Times also reported that the volcanic ash disrupted fights carrying military supplies for operations in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said all medical evacuation flights from Iraq and Afghanistan had been diverted to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., instead of flying to Germany. (With Inputs from Agencies)