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A de-icer truck arrived at Aberdeen Regional Airport from Omaha, Neb., shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday. After being removed from a flatbed, the truck still needed to be filled with de-icing fluid before it could be used. (American News Photo by John Davis / February 6, 2013) |
A day after it left Omaha, Neb., a de-icer truck arrived at Aberdeen Regional Airport shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday, and an hour later, a SkyWest Airlines plane took to the skies shortly after its regular 3:05 p.m. departure time.
Those two events were not connected because the 3:05 plane didn’t need de-icing. But after five days, the Aberdeen airport has re-entered the world of scheduled arrivals and departures.
The de-icer truck was brought to Aberdeen atop a flatbed truck driven by K.D. Schulze. The truck left Omaha on Tuesday, but didn't arrive until Wednesday because permission needed to be obtained from three state departments of transportation. The bucket atop the de-icer made the truck 14 feet, 3 inches tall.
When told he was a hero for getting a de-icer to Aberdeen, Schulze said he was “just another truck driver.”
The plane that flew out Wednesday afternoon had been at the Aberdeen airport since Tuesday afternoon. The aircraft arrived after its scheduled 2:38 p.m. arrival Tuesday but was not able to depart because the airport had no de-icer.
Wednesday’s first scheduled departure, at 6:45 a.m., was canceled. Delta Air Lines hired a bus Wednesday to take passengers from Aberdeen to Minneapolis. The bus left Aberdeen about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Delta spokesman Michael Thomas.
Among the people saying goodbye to relatives Wednesday afternoon were Mary Lou and Allen Delzer of Aberdeen. Their daughter, Sandie Arnold, and a grandson, Bryan Samuelson, had been trying to leave Aberdeen since Monday. Both live in California.
“She's a cosmetologist. She's had to rebook her clients three times since Monday,” Mary Lou Delzer said.
Arnold and Samuelson arrived in Aberdeen a week earlier for Delzer's retirement party, which was Jan. 31. Both had been on a plane Tuesday afternoon, but that flight was canceled because of icing concerns. The group also made a visit to the airport Monday. By the time they left Aberdeen on Wednesday, both had been given three vouchers, each worth $100, Delzer said.
At least two people came to the airport Wednesday with luggage concerns. One man had arrived Monday in Aberdeen and was still looking for his luggage.
Two South Carolina men were supposed to fly into Aberdeen on Monday afternoon, but found out in Minneapolis that the flight had been canceled. They had time to hop on a plane to Sioux Falls and then drove to Aberdeen. One of the men received his luggage Tuesday, but the other was still waiting for his on Wednesday.
The airport's normal de-icing truck is owned by Delta Global Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. SkyWest Airlines, based in St. George, Utah, is the Delta Connection carrier serving Aberdeen.
