Indonesia's Ile Lewotolok Volcano erupts, forcing flight to cancel landing

Ile Lewotolok Volcano in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara erupted on Thursday, causing a flight to cancel its landing at Wunopito Airport.

A plane of Wings Air on the Kupang-Wunopito Lembata route with 40 passengers was supposed to land at Wunopito 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 head of Wunopito Airport Muhammad Syaiful Zuhri.

This is the third time that planes have failed to land at Wunopito Airport due to volcanic ash, added Zuhri. Previously, the same incidents occurred on May 7 and May 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.