Alaska volcano ash cloud @ 30,000 feet: Airplanes warned to avoid airspace

Airplanes are being warned to avoid airspace near an erupting Alaska volcano as it spews ash 30,000 feet (9,000 metres) above sea level.

The National Weather Service said Saturday that ash is being blown to the west and northwest of Pavlof Volcano.

Pavlof began erupting three days ago, pushing lava out from a vent near its summit. On Friday, the ash cloud reached 16,000 feet (4,8008 meters).

Alaska Volcano Observatory Geophysicist Dave Schneider says the eruption intensified at 6 am on Saturday, sending the ash cloud higher.

Schneider says it's not clear how long the eruption will last. He says Pavlof's eruptions may last for weeks or months with varying levels of intensity.

Pavlof is Alaska's most active volcano. It sits along international air routes connecting Europe, North America and Asia.

Six killed in plane crash

Six people were killed when the small Cessna plane they were in crashed in northeastern Mexico, authorities said Saturday.

The plane crashed Friday near the US border in Hidalgo, Tamaulipas state. Officials had initially said that only three people had died.

But an official from the Tamaulipas prosecutors' office later said "there were six killed in the small plane crash."

The plane was headed from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, to the city of Monterrey in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the accident. The plane apparently burst into flames before it crashed, the state civil protection office said.



 


 

 

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