BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you want to learn from an expert with experience on the subject of airport snow removal you come to Buffalo. So that's why the International Aviation Snow Symposium is back for another year in the Queen City.
There was an interesting lunchtime video for airport maintenance crews from across the country and the world at this year's annual Snow Symposium.
They were here to listen and learn. The subject was the Buffalo Blizzard which closed BNIA for up to five days in December. That was frustrating for the proud crews at the airport who had a reputation for always keeping the airport open. They also just won their 8th Balchen/Post Award in recognition of their outstanding efforts to control snow and ice on runways.
But in December it was a different story as Buffalo Airfield Supervisor Joe Guarino explains "We were down to zero - zero visibility during this event and it was just blinding snow and the temperature dropped like a rock. We had minus 25-degree wind chill with 72-mile-an-hour gusts. You just can't work in that environment."
The severe weather event also took a toll on their massive equipment as Guarino points out "Because of the wind, the snow is gonna be pulverized. And it was like sand blowing in your face. Sand particles - that's how fine it was. So that's got in the air intake of the equipment. I lost an engine on one of my $900,000 dollar MTEs (which plows and brushes snow and de-ices runways.) That's still out of service. They're putting an engine in hopefully this month. We lost a blower. We lost a couple of plows They got buried. It was brutal."
In anticipation, airlines had flown out all but three planes but the airport staff with contractors also had to handle the terminals and parking lots. And they assisted with rescue work as the NFTA Transit Authority police were buried as well.
NFTA Transit Police Captain Louis Loubert said, "We were getting all the snow that was on the airfield dumped right into our parking lot. And it immobilized all our police cars. The police cars were buried almost to their roofs in snow."
The airport fire department also responded with police to 911 calls as people were stranded around the blanketed airport even in a runway tunnel. Loubert added "There were several families that were saved. They actually flew into Buffalo, stayed at a hotel, and were trying to get to their destination. We had a couple from Los Angeles who wanted to spend Christmas in Niagara Falls and they were leaving the hotel to drive to Niagara Falls in the middle of the blizzard and they got trapped. These officers did everything in their power, worked 36 hours straight, to save lives."
Guarino says they are also trying to improve even more-so for who knows what might come in future winter storms with some additional technology. That starts with the main 5/23 runway.
"Our main runway is closing on May 8th for a total rehab of four months. And we're putting in weather-pavement sensors. There are a lot of things we can do - part of that system can be weather forecasting and other things. And we can also add ground radar. It's a new system we can put GPS in all the vehicles and the tower can track us. So in that zero visibility element, we know where every piece of equipment is on the airfield."
Guarino and Loubert say it is hard to believe how quickly the weather conditions can deteriorate so they had to adjust and adapt to it.
They will also start thinking about stockpiling non - perishable food items and military-style MREs or meals ready to eat for snow-bound airport staffers and unexpectedly stranded visitors before future storms hit.