No Simple Task Performing a Medical Flight around Anchorage, AK
Recently air travel was suspended in and around Anchorage, Alaska due to the eruption of Mount Redoubt commencing on March 22, 2009. The resultant ash cloud is a significant problem for air travel and specifically for medical air transport in the Anchorage Bowl. Mount Redoubt is now a 10,200 foot active volcano that is located approximately 100 miles southwest of the city of Anchorage.
Anchorage has a very high ratio of pilots per capita and many of them work in operations like medical flight, equipment transport, tourist support and sightseeing. The conditions are dangerous enough with the extreme weather conditions and remoteness of the Alaskan countryside. Adding earthquakes and volcanoes makes this an even more daunting task.
Some operations, like sightseeing and tourist travel, can be suspended but the need for air ambulance services does not go away. For those of us that live in more developed areas of the country, this is something that we would not very likely have any reason for concern. It’s just another challenge that a pilot has to deal with in this rugged country.
The official website of Anchorage takes this all in stride just like the local major airport has plans on how to deal with the onset of volcanic ash. The tourist bureau is even promoting the opportunity to view an active volcano since this seldom occurs in developed areas anymore. They claim that air delays for volcanic ash usually only last a day or two.
Let us all hope that all the flights are for tourism, volcanic activity measurement and goods transport. It would be a shame that medical air transport would have to be activated to deal with accidents as a result of this phenomenon of nature. It’s all in a days work for the crews that handle medical flight out of Anchorage.
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