By Euronews Travel with AP
Published on •Updated
Flights have been cancelled in Indonesia after a volcano erupted, releasing a massive cloud of ash.
An eruption from Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki on Tuesday afternoon sent a thick grey plume up 10,000 metres into the sky, creating a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as far as 150 kilometres away. Several more eruptions on Tuesday evening sent ash up 5,000 metres into the sky.
It erupted again on Wednesday morning, belching a 1,000 metre high ash cloud, according to Indonesia’s volcanology institute, which has raised the alert to the highest level. The danger zone where people are recommended to leave has been expanded to 8 kilometres from the crater.
But, ash and debris fell in a number of places outside of the danger zone, including the villages of Boru, Hewa and Watobuku. Some residents from Nurabelen village in Ile Bura subdistrict fled to evacuation sites in Konga to avoid the impact of the eruption, the National Disaster Management Agency said in a statement.
No casualties have been reported.
Indonesia eruption leads to flight cancellations
More than 20 flights have been cancelled following the eruption, including services connecting Bali to Australia, Malaysia, India and China, according to the website of Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Singapore Airlines cancelled four flights between Bali’s Denpasar airport and Singapore. Its budget subsidiary, Scoot, has cancelled flights to Bali and the neighbouring island of Lombok.
Low-cost carrier JetStar cancelled several morning flights from Australia to Bali, and some afternoon flights were delayed or cancelled.
Air New Zealand, Juneyao Airlines and Virgin Australia have also cancelled some flights to Bali.
The Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport in Maumere is closed from Wednesday until Thursday “to ensure the safety of the passengers,” according to an Instagram post from airport operator AirNav.
Thousands of passengers have been impacted by the eruption. One Air India flight was forced to return to Delhi on 18 June due to concerns over passenger safety because of the eruption, the airline said in a statement. All passengers were safely disembarked.
Jetstar said that the ash cloud was forecast to clear by Wednesday evening.
Why is volcanic ash dangerous for planes?
Volcanic ash clouds pose a risk to planes because they can cause severe damage to aircraft engines and affect flight controls.
When ash enters a plane engine, the glass inside it melts, which then sticks to various other engine parts. Sensors can fail, and the ash can block the thousands of tiny holes that direct air through the turbine blades to keep the engine cool.
Flying through an ash cloud is also a bit like sandblasting the outside of the plane and can reduce visibility for pilots by damaging the glass in the cockpit.
Why is Indonesia an eruption hotspot?
There are around 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelago sits in between the most seismically active region of the world, the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the Alpide Belt, an area where there are a large number of eruptions and earthquakes.
Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki last erupted in May and also in March. Though people who live close to the volcano have learned to live with it, seismic activity can still be very dangerous. An eruption last November killed nine people and injured dozens more.
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