The Alaska volcano has encountered an eruption that lasted for 50 minutes sending up ask clouds more than 36,000 feet across the Aleutian Islands. The volcano erupted around 1 p.m. on July 2. Basing on the findings from Alaska Volcano Observatory, the moving cloud was not expected to drop any ash on the communities around the island. The ash clouds were however likely to harm the airliners who fly on the route between Asia and North America.
Game McGimsey from the Observatory said that they are reviewing the color codes and they will be released on July 3. The volcano eruption has heightened the aviation alerts and warnings of the unpredicted havoc. The eruption occurred on the Alaska’s Bogoslof Island in the Aleutian Island region. The occurrence was followed by the issuance of the red color aviation warning which was later downgraded to the orange alert.
The volcano is located just along the flight path of numerous flights that connect between Asia and North America and hence the ash cloud could harmfully affect the aircraft. Generally, the ash from the volcano and the chemicals from the aircraft do not mix well, since the volcanic ash is adversely abrasive and can melt the jet engine leading to engine failure.
Aircrafts are usually instructed to fly on top of the ash clouds and in some severe situations the aircrafts have been grounded following the damage caused by the airborne ashes. For instance, in 2010, the volcanic eruption at Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland led to abrupt cancellation of flights across Europe for a six-day period. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the affected flights were rerouted due to similar reasons.
Since the eruption of the Bogoslof volcano, there has been a heightened state of disorder due to an unpredictable situation at the region. The team at the Observatory indicates that additional explosions that could generate a higher-altitude volcanic ash clouds may emerge anytime soon. There have been a series of eight published eruption events at Bogoslof for several years now. Most previous eruptions lasted for weeks to months. The current eruption sequence commenced back in 2016 and could continue for a long time.
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