big dog1
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2002
- Posts
- 179
Runway lights at Southwest Florida International are back in working order after a section of faulty cable was replaced, Lee County Port Authority said late Wednesday morning. RELATED ITEMS
• Lee airport runway shut down
SWFIA
The cable malfunction left the airport’s only runway in the dark throughout Tuesday night, causing two flights to be canceled, and 10 to be diverted to other airports.
Three USAirways pilots chose to land, nonetheless, and did so successfully
.
As many as 1,500 passengers were affected, as well as their friends and families who waited for their arrivals either at home or at the airport.
Airport crews worked through the night to solve the no-lights mystery. About 180,000 feet of electrical cable, buried or in a conduit, serve the airfield, said spokeswoman Susan Sanders.
“They had to pull up all the cable and examine it, foot by foot.”
Sanders didn’t know what the faulty stretch of cable looked like, but was told it hadn’t been cut.
Although some portions of the airport’s lighting system are redundant there is no separate backup set of airfield lights with a separate power source, Sanders said.
That would be very expensive, Sanders said, adding she’s not aware of any airport with a truly complete, backup runway lighting system.
Looking further into Wednesday, Sanders said the airport is back to normal: “Tonight, we’re looking fine.”
Some airline officials reported little problems in getting flights out this morning.
"Everything today is running on time," said Anne James, American Airlines customer service representative.
Northwest Airlines had one flight to Detroit that was delayed 45 minutes in taking off. Passengers had to wait until the Airbus 320 arrived from Tampa, where it was diverted to Tuesday night. The 110 passengers rode buses to Fort Myers.
The flight Wednesday left at 10:17 a.m. instead of the 9:30 a.m. scheduled time, said Northwest spokesman Thomas Becher.
"Everything going down there is on time or en route,” he said.
• Lee airport runway shut down
SWFIA
The cable malfunction left the airport’s only runway in the dark throughout Tuesday night, causing two flights to be canceled, and 10 to be diverted to other airports.
Three USAirways pilots chose to land, nonetheless, and did so successfully
.
As many as 1,500 passengers were affected, as well as their friends and families who waited for their arrivals either at home or at the airport.
Airport crews worked through the night to solve the no-lights mystery. About 180,000 feet of electrical cable, buried or in a conduit, serve the airfield, said spokeswoman Susan Sanders.
“They had to pull up all the cable and examine it, foot by foot.”
Sanders didn’t know what the faulty stretch of cable looked like, but was told it hadn’t been cut.
Although some portions of the airport’s lighting system are redundant there is no separate backup set of airfield lights with a separate power source, Sanders said.
That would be very expensive, Sanders said, adding she’s not aware of any airport with a truly complete, backup runway lighting system.
Looking further into Wednesday, Sanders said the airport is back to normal: “Tonight, we’re looking fine.”
Some airline officials reported little problems in getting flights out this morning.
"Everything today is running on time," said Anne James, American Airlines customer service representative.
Northwest Airlines had one flight to Detroit that was delayed 45 minutes in taking off. Passengers had to wait until the Airbus 320 arrived from Tampa, where it was diverted to Tuesday night. The 110 passengers rode buses to Fort Myers.
The flight Wednesday left at 10:17 a.m. instead of the 9:30 a.m. scheduled time, said Northwest spokesman Thomas Becher.
"Everything going down there is on time or en route,” he said.
