Mon, Mar 30, 2009
ANC Hopeful Of Reopening After Massive Clean-Up
Volcanic eruptions from Alaska's Mount Redoubt over the past
week have sent ash plumes as high as 65,000 feet and disrupted
activity at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC),
causing numerous cargo flights to divert to Sea-Tac (SEA) for
refueling.
According to Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports, Sea-Tac senior
cargo manager Tom Green said that although the influx has tripled
the airport's normal level of cargo plane traffic, it's not causing
a problem. "Most of the time these cargo operations don't come at
peak passenger operating times," Green said. "We place a huge
priority on passenger operations. It's more than likely that if we
couldn't accommodate everybody, we'd prioritize passengers."
Most of the flights have been Boeing 747s enroute from Asia to
eastern US destinations, and have stopped at Sea-Tac just for
refueling - meaning that the airport isn't handling any extra
cargo. Green said some of the flights have even been parked at
unoccupied gates to refuel, but only when necessary. "We're taking
advantage of spare space all across the airfield," he said, adding
"we're not bursting at the seams."
An Alaska DOT spokesperson was hopeful that Ted Stevens
Anchorage International Airport might be able to reopen Sunday
following a massive clean-up effort. Christine Klein, deputy
commissioner for aviation of the Alaska Department of
Transportation, said work crews used snow to help in the process.
Spreading it on runways, the snow was left to soak up the ash and
then crews removed the muddy mixture. "It's kind of like brownie
mix, or cake-mix batter," Klein said. The process took nearly 14
hours.
The Seattle Times reports an Alaska Airlines spokesman said it
was possible the carrier's 4 pm flight from Seattle to Anchorage
would depart on schedule Sunday afternoon, provided the clean-up
was completed and ANC had reopened. Since Mt. Redoubt began its
latest series of eruptions, Alaska Airlines has cancelled 215
flights, affecting over 10,000 travelers.
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