Airport nabs safety award

Springfield-Branson National Airport officials brought home a Federal Aviation Administration Airport Safety Enhancement Award from the annual Airports Conference, held Sept. 27 in Kansas City.
 
The award recognizes the airport’s perfect scores for three consecutive years on FAA safety inspections, according to an airport news release. During the inspections, the FAA checks the airport’s compliance with federal safety rules and reviews airport aspects including runway pavement condition, airfield marking and lighting, the airport emergency plan, the readiness of the airport fire department, and snow and ice removal procedures.
 
“Getting a perfect score on the annual inspection is a huge accomplishment in itself,” said Springfield airport Director of Aviation Brian Weiler, in the release. “Getting a perfect score three years in a row is testament to the hard work and dedication of airport staff."
 
A $7.3 million resurfacing project for one of the airport’s two runways is under way and expected to wrap up in November. Once complete, that runway should not need resurfaced for at least 25 years, and the other runway, which was resurfaced in 2003, should not need resurfaced for at least 20 years, airport officials have said. In August, the airport shut down for 72 hours so that resurfacing could be completed at the intersection of the two runways.
 
This year’s Airport Safety Enhancement Award is not the first for the Springfield-Branson National Airport, which also earned the honor in 2001 and 2008, the release said.[[In-content Ad]]