Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Airport Manager: Jet’s touch and go no big deal. Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport (KPKB), Parkersburg, West Virginia.

WILLIAMSTOWN - Although several commenters on The Parkersburg News and Sentinel website question why large jets used the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport for possible training purposes on Monday, the facility's manager is not phased.

"It's not a big deal that we were not contacted and told what was going on," said airport manager Terry Moore. "We are a public airport and it's open airspace that anyone can use at any time."

Moore added the air traffic control tower knows the flight plans of each plane using the facility, but those working in the tower do not know more than that.

"We are not told who those in the plane are, why they are here or what they plan to do," he said. "It's is like a cab driver letting a passenger out, they don't know what their plans are."

On Monday a 737 jet that circled the area caused a stir with several citizens having called the airport and newspaper to see what was going on.

Moore said that Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland often sends planes to the local airport to do "touch and goes," landings and take-offs for training purposes. Last Thursday the airport hosted a larger 757 jet for the same reason.

"This is about the third time this year we have seen planes of this size using our runway for touch and goes," Moore said. "They come here often, especially this time of year."

Moore, a retired U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, said military bases usually rotate people in the summer, and Andrews Air Force Base likely has some new pilots who need training on the larger aircraft in the fleet. He added the local airport and others of its size are used by flight schools, such as Andrews Air Force Base, for training maneuvers rather than airports closer to the Washington, D.C., area because there is less traffic.

"By flying the hour here and using our facility, they get good training because we are not busy and it's difficult to find a 7,000-foot runway with little traffic, like we have," Moore said.

A message left for the media contact at Andrews Air Force Base was not returned for the second day.

By having the larger jets use the airport for training, it is no different than helicopters from Columbus or smaller planes from larger airports using the runway. The size of the plane is the only notable difference, Moore said.

"We never hear anything when planes use our runway like this and I don't expect to," he said. "It doesn't mean anything is going on or anyone is coming here, it is just something that happens."

Original article and comments:  http://www.mariettaam.com

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