New Photos of Mount St. Helen's Eruption

44 years since Mount Saint Helens erupted We're seeing images of the eruption we've never seen before. For the first time, a pilot from Paulsboro is releasing the photos he took from the air moments after the eruption. Here's Cairo Seven with an exclusive the story behind those photos. Take a look at these photos. These are photographs taken by aerial photographer and pilot Salem town of Poulsbo on May 18th, 1980, just moments after Mount Saint Helens erupted. We were flying over Olympia at the time and had had my radio on in the plane and I heard the the mountain had had just blew its top. So yeah, I I looked South and I I could see it down there. You know, this is a once in a lifetime thing. So I went ahead and flew straight down there. I mean we couldn't have got any closer that day. Salem flew his Cessna 150 between 2 bands of volcanic ash to snap the photos. A daring move because volcanic ash particles can make a plane's engine malfunction. That was the scariest part of the whole whole thing. Because yeah, if if if that had had closed in, it would certainly wouldn't have been good. But but you know to this day, a a chance that I was willing to take at the time just to see that mountain. But yeah, that that, that, that was kind of the scariest part of it. The eruption killed 57 people and blew 1300 feet off the mountain. It's taken Salem 44 years to release the photographs because he says he knew the FAA wouldn't have approved. Like I say, I was flying kind of in a no fly zone, you know, and they were flying through the ash. The FAA wouldn't have liked that. So I, I, I, I, I thought, well, maybe I'll publish them someday, you know, And I never have got around to it. And I guess after 44 years you thought, well, after all this time, you know, but perhaps I should, you know, so that that's how it all happened. He told us even though it was dangerous, he doesn't regret the experience and is grateful he was there to capture the historic moment. They got to do it. It was certainly well worth it. You know, they actually get to get to see that up up close, you know, and this is just a fantastic experience all the way around it, said so many folks that passed away and you know, down below, you know, but I after seeing all the big trees falling, you know, I I can see how they didn't really have that chance, you know, that that was horrible part of it. An incredible story, and it's 75 years young. You can still spot Salem Town flying his Cessna around the northwest. He's been flying for 57 years and says he's still keeping an eye on Mount Saint Helens. Rightfully so.