Freighter Captain

from airupsers.com-

Operations in and out of Anchorage were suspended indefinitely as of 4 p.m. ANC time, March 26, according to Anchorage Chief Pilot Capt. Steve Jennings.

Jennings said five flights from Asia to Anchorage were diverted to Fairbanks and three aircraft already on the ground at the gateway were being refueled and sent to Louisville.

These actions were taken after Redoubt volcano produced its highest plume yet when it exploded for the second time March 26 at 9:24 a.m. local time. The eruption sent a cloud of ash to 65,000 feet above sea level.

FLMD11CAPT

I don't think FDX is far behind

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Sometimes it's just best to let sleeping dogs lie...........

FrontSeat

In PVG now, supposed to fly to ANC in about 12 hours....

So far no schedule changes on the computer....

They probably have their hands full

FR8TFLYER

It is crisis management in SDF, they are probably trying to find more managers to fly!

JustUnderPar

I am sure the managers are ****ed about what is going on.....have you looked at the MEF going on?? SDF - PVG 15+ hours.......yes we are over staffed.

Capt TedStriker

We leave Hong Kong in just 2 hours and they say that as long as we are arriving after 17z it is OK to proceed.... Good luck was the last thing the skeds guy said before I hung up. Lots of planes up to FAI yesterday.... To me it would make more sense to plan to fly to BFI with relief crews waiting to continue on to SDF to make ops... BWTFDIK. They would rather have revenue trapped in the middle of AK with no crews to fly it on. I am sure the red light is going in circles down in the GOC -- better known as "the Brown Hole".

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Striker

CactusCrew

AGREED.

This on again ... off again ... style of operation just has to be killing the bottom line. Not to mention the disruption of schedules !

I guess they didn't get the memo about volcanoes being unpredictable.

But then again since volume is down so much, maybe this isn't causing service failures at all ...



I guess the plan for ANC volcanic activity was to ignore Redoubt as long as possible. Continue operations with the ongoing threat of more eruptions. Resist making other routings and contingencies until half the ANC inbounds divert from ANC. Then pat each other on the back after weeks of reschedules and late arrivals to recover the system.



Just reroute the volume for a few weeks to ease the disruptions to the system. Then if Redoubt has become quiet or inactive again, develope a gradual transition to return to normal ANC operations. If it hasn't ... just close the base and be done with the pain !

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CactusCrew

Redoubt Volcano Latest Observations




2009-03-27 00:55:24

An explosive series of eruptions that began at 11:47PM AKDT continue.




2009-03-27 00:15:31

An eruption of Redoubt volcano began at about 11:47pm AKDT, March 26. National weather service radar indicates a cloud height of about 38,000 ft above sea level.




2009-03-26 23:44:58

An intense seismic signal indicates that low-level ash clouds may be present, however no ash cloud has been detected above 15,000 feet.




2009-03-26 23:29:25

Seismicity continues to increase in intensity.

There has not been a large explosion of ash into the atmosphere since this morning's eruption at 9:24AM.

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UPSFO4LIFE

Are we all ready to help out the company?

SLPII

YES...EVEN IF IT SACRIFICES MY JOB.

UPS...I'm bending over for you.