For most of our trip last week, we were dismayed to see fires burning in the Tegucigalpa area. The smoke from these fires got worse as the week progressed, and by the time we left visibility was greatly reduced. By the end of the week the smoke was quite an annoyance to some among us with respiratory issues.
Here is an article from El Heraldo (translated into English, somewhat competently, by Google) that describes the situation. According to the article, and unbeknownst to us while we were sitting at the airport on Saturday, the smoke actually caused the runway at Tegucigalpa’s Toncontin airport to be closed Saturday morning and Sunday. Am I the only one that thinks it’s a little eerie that the authorities decided it was safe to fly during the times US flights were taking off and landing, but not so safe other times? I can’t say the visibility was any better between the morning and the time we took off.
Filed under: General
