LATROBE, Pa. — Crews at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport waste no time when it starts snowing to make sure the runway and taxiways are clear for planes to take off and land.
“Once it starts snowing, we go into snow operation, and we don’t stop until it’s completely over,” said Nick Rubino, who works in the operations department with the Westmoreland County Airport Authority.
That work starts with a lot of prep — as soon as they know there’s going to be a snow event.
“Prepping the trucks, making sure they’re fueled and monitoring the radar to see what time the storm is coming,” Rubino explained.
On Sunday, the first crews started at 6 a.m., with the last leaving at 10 p.m. On Monday morning, they were back just after 4 a.m.
“If the runway isn’t too bad, we can get it cleaned off in about 15 to 20 minutes,” Rubino explained to Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek, who went on a ride-along with Rubino as he worked on clearing snow.
The airport has a couple different trucks that help make clearing snow from the runway as quick as possible. They have trucks with what is basically a circular broom attached to the front, and blowers in the back to sweep the snow out of the way, and work to dry the ground.
They also have snow blowers that can clear an area quickly.
Rubino said a day like Monday when it’s cold, windy, and dry, is the best for quick snow removal.
“Once we get into the wet snow, it takes a little bit more time to hog it off,” he said.
So far this winter, crews have been busier than in years past. Rubino said they’ve been in snow removal mode almost every day this month.
“It’s a lot worse,” he said. “Definitely more consistent snowfall than we’ve gotten over the last couple of years, but yeah definitely with consistency lately, it’s a lot of snow.”
But, they say they’re ready to go when the next snow falls to make sure all travelers are able to land and take off safely, and on time.
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