Strong winds damage planes at Destin Airport
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Posted: 11:26 PM Jul 3, 2009
Strong winds damage planes at Destin Airport
Strong winds damage planes at the Destin Airport.
Reporter: Josh Gauntt
Email Address: joshua.gauntt@wjhg.com

Storm Damages 10 Planes At Destin Airport
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That same storm front that blew a prescribed burn out of control on Panama City Beach Thursday afternoon also caused a lot of problems in Destin.

Strong straight line winds took a toll on ten small planes at the Destin Airport.
Airport officials say the 70 miles an hour gusts came out of no where.

"We really didn't have any lead time to this storm," Laverne Brigman, General Manager of the Destin Airport said. "We had aircraft that were landing and taking off. Our people were out trying to take care of those customers."

Two airplanes the airport owns were totaled. The Cessna 172's were apart of the airport's flight school. The planes were tied down.

But that didn't stop mother nature from ripping through the aircraft, bending and twisting metal, and scattering debris all over.

The wind lifted this airplane up and over three others before dropping it on this spot.

One plane's tail was torn in to. Fortunately no one was hurt during Thursday's storm, but it was a scary situation nonetheless.

"Some of them were right out in the middle of the storm and couldn't get back into the building," Brigman said. "We've been in business 31 years and we've never had this happen before."

The storm dumped nickel-sized hail and more than an inch of rain. Thursday's incident did not cause any damages to the airport itself.

It was business as usual Friday, with some extra activity expected due to people arriving for the 4th of July holiday.


Latest Comments

Posted by: JR Location: Destin on Jul 6, 2009 at 10:42 AM

One plane's tail was torn in to. The Cessna 172's were apart of the airport's flight school.
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