Anchorage Daily News

Ash from Kasatochi volcano stranded more than 6,000 travelers Sunday night and early today when a shift in the wind moved a giant ash plume into flight routes.

Alaska Airlines canceled 44 flights into and out of Alaska, and other airlines canceled flights as well, choking the airport with stranded passengers overnight and this morning

Alaska, which has resumed a normal schedule, added flights today to try to accommodate the stranded passengers, according to Caroline Boren, Alaska Airlines spokeswoman. Passengers flying on other airlines have been rebooked on new flights.

Representatives of Continental, Delta and United airlines said some flights had been canceled Sunday and early this morning, but all the airlines were flying with normal schedules today.

Night flights are the problem. During the day, pilots can see and avoid the ash plumes, but at night that's not possible, Boren said. The airline will look at wind conditions later today then make a decision around 4 p.m. about grounding flights tonight.

The ash plume, burped from Aleutian volcano Kasatochi on Thursday, is 325 miles wide, floating at between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. Monday morning it was above northwestern Canada. It's likely to snarl air traffic for days as it travels across the U.S., said Chris Waythomas, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Volcanic ash particles are extremely abrasive and can cause serious damage to aircraft, including engine failure.

Kasatochi is one of three volcanoes currently simmering in the Aleutians, along with Mount Cleveland and Okmok.

Seismic activity at Okmok picked up notably on Sunday and continued today, the observatory said. Kasatochi also has increased activity, Waythomas said.

Dave Harris, a pilot with U.S. Airways in Anchorage, said he avoided the plume on his flight from Las Vegas to Anchorage on Sunday evening by dropping from 34,000 feet to 28,000 feet.

"It's very dangerous. It can make engines fail, " he said of the ash while standing outside the Hotel Captain Cook in downtown Anchorage this morning,. He said he wasn't sure how his flight tonight would go.

Out at the airport, people crowded into long lines at check-in counters. Others, looking grumpy and bedraggled, waited on benches for their flights.

William Villareal, a 58-year-old cannery worker on his way home from Briston Bay to Stockton, Calif., slept on a bench near the Alaska Airlines ticket counter last night. His friend, another cannery worker, slept on newspapers spread out on the nearby floor.

Villareal said he and eight other cannery workers were supposed to be on an Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle last night. Now they are waiting for 28 hours to pass before they can get on the next available one. In the meantime, they are asking Starbucks for hot water and eating Rice-A-Roni noodles they brought with them.

"This isn't good for us. It's not good for us to run out of cash here. Food is expensive," he said.

When Norma Reynolds heard a room in Anchorage would cost $325 for the night, the 65-year-old also chose to sleep on a bench at the airport. She's trying to get back home to Springfield, Ill., after a family vacation and wedding in Fairbanks. It was so cold in the airport, she said, that she wore three sweatshirts and her husband's jacket. "This is just unbelievable," she said. "But I'd rather stay here than crash with the ash getting in the motor.

Alaska Airlines made the decision to halt flights Sunday after the National Weather Service issued a SIGMET (Significant Meteorological Information) warning Sunday afternoon for an area in Southeast Alaska near the Panhandle, Boren said.

"If there's an ash plume in the way, we won't fly," she said.

Boren said people can check the status of flights today at alaskaair.com, or they can call 1-800-AlaskaAir. People who wish to change flights may do so with no fees, she said. Those who don't want to fly may cancel for a full refund.

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