On April 29, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory undertook a helicopter surveillance flight over Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. At the time, the ongoing eruption was between eruptive episodes (episode 18 ended on April 22). In this photo looking down towards the east, lava is seen within north vent. The south vent is out of the field of view, but white gas (mostly water vapor) from south vent is visible at the bottom left of the photo. Lava flows from recent episodes cover most of the right half of the photo. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

On April 29, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory undertook a helicopter surveillance flight over Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. At the time, the ongoing eruption was between eruptive episodes (episode 18 ended on April 22). In this photo looking down towards the northeast, lava is seen within both north vent through the volcanic gas (center) and south vent (bottom right). Lava flows from recent episodes cover most of the upper right half of the photo, and tephra from recent eruptive episodes blankets the bottom part of the photo, with a patch of discoloration caused by sulfur. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

On April 29, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory undertook a helicopter surveillance flight over Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. At the time, the ongoing eruption was between eruptive episodes (episode 18 ended on April 22). In this photo looking down towards the east, lava is seen within north vent. The south vent is located to the right of the north vent in this photo. Lava flows from recent episodes cover most of the upper half of the photo, and tephra from recent eruptive episodes blankets the bottom part of the photo, with a patch of discoloration caused by sulfur. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

View looking southwest of the southwest corner of Halema‘uma‘u and the tephra blanket from the ongoing eruption at Kīlauea. The tephra is brown and covers center and right side of the photo. Despite being covered in over 2 meters (yards) of tephra in places, Crater Rim Drive (within the high hazard closed area of the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park) is still perceptible due to USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field crews driving across it; staff working in this hazardous closed area carry personal protective equipment at all times. The cracks in the upper right portion of the photo are associated with the Southwest Rift Zone (SWRZ), and where the cracks intersect the buried road there is a white speck, which is the top of a mostly buried road sign. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

This overview photo of western Halema‘uma‘u crater was captured during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring helicopter overflight on Tuesday, April 29. The Kīlauea summit eruption remains paused since the end of episode 18; however, during the overflight, active lava was observed deep within the eruptive vents (upper left), though no flows were active on the crater floor. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring helicopter overflight midday on April 29, 2025, provided views Halema‘uma‘u during a pause in eruptive activity at Kīlauea. In this view looking south, the degassing north and south vents are visible in the center right of the photo. The KAMAKAIA Hills of Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone are visible on the horizon just right of center. USGS photo by N. Deligne.