Working overnight at the airport never used to be this busy. Now with road construction and late flights its busier than ever! An aircraft emergency last night added to the fun of my month working the midnight hour!
While most of you are sleeping, cancelled checks are being flown around the state in the middle of the night by some guy in a little single engine Cessna airplane. It was tonight that one of these little check planes would have a possible problem with his landing gear. On this Cessna the landing gear retracts. It’s not uncommon for the pilot to see a little warning light on his “dashboard” that says his landing gear isn’t locked. Without the gear being locked it could collapse when he lands.
With his warning light on, the pilot declared an emergency and the airport fire trucks rolled out to the runway. I’ll wait at the runway to inspect it after the aircraft lands. There is no doubt this pilot would be in good hands if his warning light was true and there was a problem when he landed. Four of our finest airport fire trucks all waiting at the runway edge to help. That’s the plan!! We are prepared and practiced for aircraft emergencies, no matter how big or small! And if you thought that wasn’t enough fire apparatus to do the job, 6 more fire engines from the city were staged at the emergency staging area along with 2 police cars waiting on the terminal ramp. This 1 soul on board with 50 gallons of gas couldn’t have been in better hands even if he did have Allstate. And don’t forget about me, out there in the operation’s Expedition ready to be a part of the incident command system should things take a turn for the worst.
Fortunately the pilot was able to land his aircraft safely with our 4 airport fire trucks following him and me following the fire trucks. He taxied back to his hangar and I opened the runway.
With his warning light on, the pilot declared an emergency and the airport fire trucks rolled out to the runway. I’ll wait at the runway to inspect it after the aircraft lands. There is no doubt this pilot would be in good hands if his warning light was true and there was a problem when he landed. Four of our finest airport fire trucks all waiting at the runway edge to help. That’s the plan!! We are prepared and practiced for aircraft emergencies, no matter how big or small! And if you thought that wasn’t enough fire apparatus to do the job, 6 more fire engines from the city were staged at the emergency staging area along with 2 police cars waiting on the terminal ramp. This 1 soul on board with 50 gallons of gas couldn’t have been in better hands even if he did have Allstate. And don’t forget about me, out there in the operation’s Expedition ready to be a part of the incident command system should things take a turn for the worst.
Fortunately the pilot was able to land his aircraft safely with our 4 airport fire trucks following him and me following the fire trucks. He taxied back to his hangar and I opened the runway.
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