b'EMERGENCY OPERATIONSAVL23Two rivers that run through Asheville broke 230-year recordsIt was mostly people acting out of goodwill, Farmer explains. for flooding during Helene. The French Broad, which usuallyIt was not directed by any agency or municipal/federal response crests around 1 feet, reached 24.6 feet during the storm. Theto deliver supplies to the airport. Swannanoa went from a crest of around 1 feet to 26.1 feet, aBecause the air traffic control tower was out of service, all height not reached since 1791. aircraft flying under instrument flight rules had to be sequenced The airport grounds flooded at the southwest and northin and out of AVL through Atlanta Center. Anything below 200 perimeters, but the terminal, which sits at the highest point of thefeet operated under visual flight rules. Switching instrument flights property, was not impacted by the high river levels.was a familiar procedure because the air traffic control tower at Helene was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane before makingAVL does not operate 24/7 under normal conditions and transfers landfall on Thursday, Sept. 26, south of Tallahassee, FL. It wasover to Atlanta Center daily when it is not in operation. The downgraded to a tropical storm as it swept north, but high windsairport tower frequency is converted to a common traffic advisory and heavy rain persisted. frequency (CTAF).All but essential airport staffers were sent home ThursdayAn FAA technical support team was able to restore the AVL air afternoon. On Friday morning, the airport, along with most of thetraffic control tower service using generator power and backup city and surrounding region, lost its power, internet service, phonecontingencies by Sunday.lines and cellphone service. The airport did, however, have to halt general aviation traffic Everything that was necessary went to generators: our publicone afternoon because the general aviation ramp had become safety building, our maintenance building, the terminal buildinggridlocked.and airfield lighting, recalls Farmer. The biggest issue was Also on Saturday, aircraft from the U.S. Army, Navy and Air communications was out. Power would not be restored untilNational Guard began arriving. They brought fuel and other Monday afternoon, more than 72 hours later.supplies for ground teams to conduct search and rescue A few commercial flights were able to depart AVL early Fridayoperations because many highways and secondary roads before power and internet outages occurred. were unusable due to heavy rain and fallen trees. When you start losing roads, air connectivity becomes the lifeline of these Bleiweis was unable to get to the airport at all on Fridaycommunities, Bleiweis says.because roads were closed throughout the county. That proved to be a blessing in one regard, as he had better internetTo the airport teams surprise, large tractor-trailers started connectivity and cellular service than the airport, so he was ablearriving at AVL on Saturday and Sunday with multiple pallets to communicate with Farmer and a handful of other key staffers. of water, ready-to-eat meals and other emergency supplies. They were delivered at the behest of North Carolina Emergency One bright spot was that the airport kept its water service.Management Services and Buncombe County Emergency While much of Buncombe County lost water service untilServices Command.mid-October (and it was mid-November before potable water returned), the airport is served by the city of Asheville Mills RiverBleiweis says one lesson his team has taken away from the water plant, which remained operational during and after theHelene experience is to increase communication and formalize storm. The airport lost potable water for a stretch, but was sparedplans with city, county and other officials ahead of severe storms. lengthy water outages. More coordination is better, he relates. These other agencies would have a better understanding of what the airport can provide By Saturday morning, airport crews began post-stormduring emergencies.damage assessment. We had redundancies in place, but the redundancies failed, Bleiweis explains, noting that neither of thePivoting to an Emergency Resources Roleairports two internet services worked. On Sunday, a small portion of AVLs general aviation ramp was Without reliable internet or cell service, airlines could notdesignated to serve as an emergency logistics hub. By Monday, it process flights or passengers. About 100 passengers werebecame clear that space was not sufficient.stranded at the airport. By Sunday, airport and airlines staff wereClose to 100 military personnel worked (and set up temporary trying to get some passengers to Charlotte by bus, but manyliving quarters) at the airport. Airlifts were performed with Chinook, roads in and out of Asheville were still unpassable. Blackhawk and CH53 helicopters delivering food, generators, fuel and heaters to 43 landing zones within Western North Carolina. A Flood of Traffic Some supplies were delivered by large C-17 cargo planes.It wasnt until Mondaythree days after the last pre-storm commercial flight departedthat commercial service was restored.Airport staffers worked with the North Carolina Air National Despite the cessation of airline flights, the airfield was inundatedGuard to get a waiver for the large C-17s to operate on the with traffic. Private aircraft started arriving in droves by Saturdayairfield, which is not rated for airplanes that heavy. Because they morning to deliver emergency supplies such as potable water, foodwere too large for any of AVLs aprons, they were parked on a and more. taxiway adjacent to the makeshift military zone.We coordinated with air traffic control to close that taxiway for AirportImprovement.comMay | June 2025'