The volcanic eruption in Kamchatka, Russia, has sent ash plumes into the air, where they are traveling east toward Alaska air space. Plumes of ash have been spotted over the Gulf of Alaska.
As reported earlier, flights in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and western Alaska are being canceled by the dozens. Ash from volcanic eruptions can destroy jet engines.
The Siveluch volcano’s ash cloud heading toward Alaska is moving at about 30 knots at about 32,000 feet, which is the altitude that commercial aircraft cruise.
As of Thursday, Alaska Seaplanes, which serves Southeast Alaska, has canceled flights to Haines and Skagway from Juneau.
Over two dozen flights have been canceled, primarily out of Anchorage, Juneau, Deadhorse, and Kodiak.
You can watch the live weather satellite images for the Gulf of Alaska here.
The National Weather Service said on Thursday that no ash fall is expected on land in Alaska.
I wonder why Alaska Seaplanes suspended flights from Juneau to Haines and Skagway? JNU to HNS is 25 min and the flights almost never exceed 3500 feet altitude. Maybe I’m going blind but I cannot see any ash cloud in the air here in Juneau
Bob, they all fly IFR now and I think it’s just a rule they have, and pretty much all commercial carriers are IFR. – sd
So here is a simple question. If airlines prefer to, or are authorized to cruise at an average elevation of 32,000 feet, why not drop the elevation temporarily down to 20,000 feet? Perhaps at 20,000 feet the engines would use much more fuel through losses in efficiency making airlines less profitable?
The top of ash clouds are pretty well defined, the bottoms, not so much, as the ash tends to fall out over time. Cheers –
Better ask the Chinese where the ash cloud really is
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