Pilots warned about flight limits near rumbling Mayon Volcano

(MICHAEL L. MANJARES/CONTRIBUTOR)

MANILA, Philippines — A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) has been issued for flights near Mayon Volcano after a phreatic eruption was recorded on Thursday evening, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) said.

“The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for flights near Mayon Volcano, with vertical limits from the surface to 9,000 feet,” the agency said in an advisory on Friday.

Caap said the NOTAM took effect at 8:15 p.m. on July 18 and will last until 6:30 p.m. on July 19.

According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, a light gray ash and steam plume, measuring about 656 feet or 200 meters, drifted west-northwest of the volcano at around 6:16 p.m.

Miladee Azur, head of the Legazpi City disaster risk reduction and management office, reminded the public to avoid entering the six-kilometer-radius permanent danger zone due to the threat of another phreatic eruption.