ANCHORAGE (KTUU) – Alaska’s most active volcanoes sit far from the state’s population centers, and often spurt ash or steam, but for pilots in the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutians, a sighting of a volcano isn’t out of the ordinary.
Captain Joe Timmreck, who flies for Ace Air, captured dramatic video of lava flows on the side of Veniaminof Volcano in Southwest Alaska Wednesday. Timmreck says he and his copilot Nicholas Huling were flying a usual route between Anchorage and Sand Point when they caught sight of the lava flows. With Huling’s help flying, Timmreck was able to capture more than three minutes of footage of lava flows making their way down the side of the remote mountain.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in my flying career,” Timmreck, who’s flown for Ace for 11 years, says, noting the volcanoes on the Aleutian chain are often more active than Veniaminof. “It kindof makes you feel small.”
Timmreck says he’s been flying the Anchorage-Sand Point route for the last year, though sometimes his path doesn’t go over the volcano. He wasn’t in the area for his flight Thursday, but says barring weather or other conditions, he may fly through the area again Friday.
Veniaminof Volcano is 20 miles from Perryville, Alaska, a community of about 100 people on the Alaska Peninsula. Lava flows were first spotted Monday by passengers on the state ferry.
I was born in that state.
Thankfully, I wasn’t raised there… gets cold enough here as it is.