JAKARTA: The Ile Lewotolok volcano (pic) in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara erupted on Thursday (May 16), causing a flight to cancel its landing at Wunopito Airport, reported Xinhua.
A plane of Wings Air on the Kupang-Wunopito Lembata route with 40 passengers was supposed to land at the airport at 11am local time, but the pilot decided to return to the departure airport.
"The pilot saw indications of volcanic ash near the landing strip, so he took the plane back to Kupang for security reasons," said the head of Wunopito Airport, Muhammad Syaiful Zuhri.
This is the third time that planes have failed to land at the airport due to volcanic ash, added Muhammad Syaiful. Previously, similar incidents occurred on May 7 and 14.
The mountain released one earthquake eruption and 102 earthquake gusts since 6am to 12pm local time, according to the Ile Lewotolok Volcano Monitoring Post. - Bernama-Xinhua
