was going north to south right to the uk. that s when they got all nervous yesterday. then yesterday afternoon this picture taken by the same satellite and you see just how dispersed that ash is, how much thinner that ash cloud is, and that s really the main reason why the air space has been allowed to open up. now below 20,000 feet in this red highlighted area highlights that fact, notice how that shrinks and moves off towards the north and west, most of it getting out into the atlantic ocean. and that s the next reason is forecast looks to be a lot better. we ll talk more about the u.s. forecast and severe weather in it in about 30 to 40 minutes. back to you. sounds good. thanks. developing story to tell you about this morning. the coast guard is searching for at least 11 missing oil rig workers off of the coast of louisiana. they vanished after an explosion last night. search teams are hoping they are on lifeboats in the gulf of mexico. there were 126 people on the oil rig last
he knew he had an extra four hours of fuel so, he circled, waiting for the deadline and then got the okay. so it s brilliant gamesmanship. we ve been circling around for quite some time, so we were thinking about going to shannon but decided to land at heathrow. that volcano remains act thif morning. look at these pictures. the ash is still out there, still spreading and there are fears more eruptions could be coming. rob marciano joins us from the cnn weather sent we are why they opened up the majority of the air space even though as we said the ash is still in the air. it is, kiran, but markedly less than when it first erupted four or five days ago, about 80% less, as a matter of fact. high-resolution satellite imagery, want to show it to you, from yesterday to today and you ll see the huge difference. this is yesterday s picture, or monday s picture, i should say, where that thick plume of ash
and number two, it s mostly below the 20,000 foot mark. and the forecast, they didn t have a good handle on the forecast over the past couple of days, gaining more confidence as to what the atmosphere will look like over the next day or two. for that reason i think they ve opened up the air space and released those planes. take a look at the forecast or actually situation as far as what s going on between the surface and 20,000 feet. all of that red highlighted area, that s where the ash is the most concentrated. moving it forward, the forecast for tonight shows it going more towards the north and west and clearing out in europe. for that reason is why they are opening up the air space. above 20,000 feet it s pretty much all clear. that s where we stand right now, kiran. good news on that front for sure. we ve been waiting for this sort of thing. even though it s still spewing
the student s own cell phone and turn those into learning devices. this is a different policy than charging students to retrieve phones. you think the kids are wired differently these days? they are wired differently and taking more information than we had to and able to sort of multitask. when an im pops up, it drives me crazy. for them, second nature. don t call deb. do not i.m. me. right. time to look at the top stories, more and more planes slowly but surely getting back into the skies across europe. officials expect half of the number of flights in the air today and could be weeks before every stranded passenger is back home. european officials estimate the volcanic ash has cost $1.7 billion so far. the parents who pled guilty
cnn.com/amfix. new developments on the impact of the volcanic ash. all restrictions for the country s air space have been lifted. for the first time in six days, planes are also landing this morning at london s heathrow airport. british authorities opened their air space over england last night. british airways flight from vancouver the first to touch down. the volcano remains active. if you look at the incredible pictures, the ash is spewing and there are fears more eruptions could be coming. rob marciano joins us. they are still making the call, 75% of air space is reopened. explain why even though we re seeing the ash out there they are giving the okay for flights to take off. it s not quite as concentrated.