
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issues “Red” aviation warning relating to Kīlauea - lunchbreak
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/status.html
======
Casseres
I'm an air traffic controller at HCF Center (the airspace that has this
aviation red warning). I wish I was working there right now to see this
firsthand, but I'm currently in Oklahoma City at the FAA center. If anyone has
any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

The summary says the ash cloud is drifting southwest which would put it on the
south end of the Big Island. Almost no one flies that way so it shouldn't have
a big impact on aviation traffic.

~~~
lutorm
Ash output is apparently already declining, so even though the trade winds are
expected to slow it appears the NWS just canceled the ash warning: "Cancelled
the Ashfall Advisory for Kau District as volcanic ash emissions at Halemaumau
have decreased since Tuesday evening. However, vog will be particularly thick
today on the Big Island as sea breezes and upslope flow will collect the plume
over the island."

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walrus01
What happens when you don't avoid clouds of volcanic ash:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLM_Flight_867](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KLM_Flight_867)

~~~
raverbashing
> "Despite the lack of time, Moody made an announcement to the passengers that
> has been described as "a masterpiece of understatement":[3]"

> "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small
> problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get
> them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress"

~~~
lightbyte
Seems like that wasn't an understatement, they didn't end up being in any
distress at all. The plane landed safely and nobody was injured.

~~~
walrus01
A 747 gliding all engines out and not immediately above an airport is kind of
a major crisis. The number of times that has happened is an extremely rare
occurrence.

~~~
hansthehorse
On average and handled correctly, a 747 at 40000 feet has about 100 miles of
range, discounting winds.

~~~
walrus01
Which is not a lot, if the only airports within 100 miles have runways too
short for a 747.

~~~
snuxoll
What about a body of water? It’s not ideal but it seems like the best option
if there’s no suitable runway.

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8_hours_ago
Very impressive pictures:
[https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/kilauea_multime...](https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/kilauea_multimedia_15.html)

~~~
jonknee
And life goes on, love this angle of ash behind golfers:

[https://twitter.com/GettyImagesNews/status/99653888156569191...](https://twitter.com/GettyImagesNews/status/996538881565691910)

~~~
sandworm101
I find it hard to take a disaster seriously when people are playing golf. At
what point do they start telling the tourists to leave, or at least stop
arriving? I'd imagine a mass evacuation of Hawaii, or any part of it, would be
a logistical nightmare.

~~~
jonknee
The island isn't going anywhere, they're not in any danger.

~~~
sandworm101
Maybe not today, but the Hawaiian islands are all temporary. There is a reason
they get smaller the further they are away from the hotspot. The big island is
doomed.

[https://hilo.hawaii.edu/~kenhon/GEOL205/Landslides2/default....](https://hilo.hawaii.edu/~kenhon/GEOL205/Landslides2/default.htm)

~~~
jonknee
Well on a long enough timeline we're all doomed, but that doesn't mean golf is
out of the question. This eruption has been going on for decades (1983!), it's
OK to live a normal life on the Big Island.

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raverbashing
Ah volcanoes, the 3d printer of nature.

Some interesting fact I found the other day: Hawaii was created by one (edit)
volcanic hotspot, while the tectonic plate moved above it. And there's a line
of underwater islands all the way to Siberia.

~~~
privong
> Hawaii was created by one volcano, while the tectonic plate moved above it.
> And there's a line of underwater islands all the way to Siberia.

Just a quick clarification: the Hawaiian islands comprise multiple volcanoes.
There's at least five that make up the Big Island (Hawai'i): Mauna Kea, Mauna
Loa, Kilauea, Kohala, and Hualālai. I think what you mean is that the island
chain seems to have been created by a single mantle plume / volcanic hotspot:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_hotspot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_hotspot)

~~~
jcranmer
Well, there are two distinct loci of volcanoes at the hotspot: the loci that
creates Mauna Loa, Loihi, Hualalai, Lanai, etc., and the loci that creates
Mauna Kea, Haleakala, Kohala, Kilauea, etc. It's still referred to as one
hotspot, but there may be separate mantle plumes in close proximity.

~~~
privong
> It's still referred to as one hotspot, but there may be separate mantle
> plumes in close proximity.

Does it need to be separate plumes or can it be bifurcation of a single plume
as it passes through the crust?

~~~
jcranmer
I don't know the answer to this question myself, and I suspect our knowledge
of hotspots is poor enough that no one can answer this question definitively.

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sgt101
How do the telescopes on Mt Kea protect themselves from the ash? I know that
they are on another island some distance from this volcano (I visited a decade
or so ago) but does the ash cloud risk transporting damaging particulates to
the special glass?

~~~
crunchlibrarian
Classic HN, how is the scientific equipment holding up? Dust in nooks and
crannies? Why I can't even imagine!

Hmm there are humans on the island as well?

~~~
wlesieutre
We know what happens to humans in volcanic eruptions, nobody needs to ask
about it.

Evacuate the area, wait until it stops, rebuild afterward in the same place
because people like Hawaii well enough to accept the risk of living on a
volcano.

~~~
Johnny555
_nobody needs to ask about it_

Also any human toll is widely reported in the news media, while effects on
scientific equipment is not.

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jobu
First time I've ever seen the term "vog" (volcanic air pollution)
[https://vog.ivhhn.org/](https://vog.ivhhn.org/)

~~~
Casseres
It's a common report from pilots when we solicit the weather from them. (Every
hour when certain conditions are met, air traffic controllers have to solicit
PIREPS - Pilot Reports). It reduces visibility similar to haze.

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United857
What does "Red" mean exactly here? All flights are grounded/need to avoid this
airspace?

~~~
jcranmer
Kilauea has been at Orange for the past several years--the ash clouds that
were generated were small, highly localized, and not really a threat to
aviation. On April 30, the erupting fissure (Pu'u 'O'o) suddenly had its floor
collapse, cutting off the main escape path of lava. At the same time, there
was a massive surge in magma underneath the summit, which shortly thereafter
shifted down the flank.

The lava lake at the summit is now a crater over 300 meters deep. This means
that, in addition to rocks falling into the crater and subsequently being
ejected into the air in the form of fine ash, water is also intruding into the
column, which raises the distinct possibility of a high pressure steam
explosion. The alert level was changed because there is now a persistent,
high-level ash cloud that is traveling some distance. It's not on the same
scale as Eyjafjallajökull (the volcano that shut down European airspace), but
it is big enough to start wrapping around the Hawaiian islands.

