Alaska Airlines canceled 10 flights statewide Wednesday due to ash drifting over Alaska from an erupting volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
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Scientists said more ash could be on the way, depending on which way the wind blows.
The flight cancellations affected more than 1,000 passengers, an Alaska Airlines spokesperson wrote in an email.
The flights were canceled because volcanic ash can damage airliners’ engines.
The volcanic ash impacted flights to both Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and Fairbanks International Airport.
The ash came from an eruption Tuesday on Mount Shiveluch, located on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula about 1,000 miles across the Bering Sea from Alaska’s westernmost islands.
The volcano could spew more ash in the coming days, said David Fee, coordinating scientist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
“Shiveluch is a pretty active volcano,” Fee said. “I would say definitely one of the more active, explosive volcanoes globally. And it looks like right now it’s in an active phase.”
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A lava dome formed inside the volcano, and its intermittent eruptions have blasted ash skyward, Fee said. The ash went high into the atmosphere, and the wind blew it toward Alaska, he said.
Shiveluch erupted again late Wednesday, said Prince Balal, a meteorologist with the Anchorage Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.
The ash from that eruption was not headed towards Alaska, at least initially, but that could change depending on the direction of the wind, Balal said.
Still, analysts with the Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisories Center reported it was unlikely the ash from the latest eruption would make it to Alaska, Balal said.
More eruptions are likely, but it was uncertain whether ash would again impact Alaska, said Fee, with the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
“ I’d say it’s possible and will just depend on how big the eruptions are and what the winds are doing,” Fee said.
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