Lincoln airport staff working hard to keep runways safe during snow storms

Last Friday, a Southwest Airlines plane went off the runway shortly after landing at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, resulting in the airport’s closure and the suspension of all flights.

Fortunately there were no injuries, but it did raise some questions about the role airport workers play in keeping surfaces safe during snow storms.

“We basically are in charge of all the paved surfaces out here at the airport. We try to maintain them the best we can,” said Chad Neuhalfen, Superintendent of Facilities and Maintenance at the Lincoln Airport.

Chad Neuhalfen has over 20 years of experience in airport maintenance.

Here in Lincoln, there are three runways for planes to come and go.

He says the goal during weather events is to prioritize one on of them for safe passage.

“Even a half inch of snow, for us out here, is just as much work as four or five inches of snow. It requires about the same amount of man hours to get the job done,” said Neuhalfen.

Neuhalfen says the maintenance crew staff usually arrives three or four hours before the storm hits, gearing up trucks and getting everything ready.

They re-apply liquid de-icers and granular salt on the runway to fight the icy conditions.

“Ice is probably the most stressful because you can go from just wet conditions and, in a matter of minutes, turned to pure ice. That can be very stressful,” said Neuhalfen.

The maintenance staff uses runway brooms, snow plows and snow blowers when the snow totals begin to rise.

“A lot of people haven’t seen our plows. A lot of them are about 20 feet in length, they are very large plows. When we get so much snow we do switch to blowers. We do have two really large snow blowers we use,” said Neuhalfen.

As far as de-icing planes and making sure they’re ready to go. That’s strictly the airlines responsibility.

At the end of the day, the number one concern is safety.

“That pilot is relying on you on the ground to give the most correct information that there is so they can have a safe landing and everybody gets back home safely from their travels,” said Neuhalfen.