Each year, employees from KCIA and the King County Office of Emergency Management meet (virtually during COVID-19 times) to plan for what they hope won’t come: a disastrous plane crash.

They are joined by representatives from Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF), other local firefighters, Boeing, fixed base operators (FBOs), the FAA and others who might respond to an emergency.

Required by the FAA, the annual tabletop exercise “is tangible evidence of King County’s commitment to ensure public safety through collaborative partnerships that will prepare it to respond to any emergency,” according to the exercise manual.

This year’s exercise, held on November 18, was based on a real-life crash that occurred at LaGuardia Airport in New York in 2013, pictured above. In the exercise, a Boeing 737-800 reported a “stuck” landing gear and crashed upon landing, with 52 people on board.

During the exercise, participants discussed their initial response, as well as recovery after the incident. Details discussed included how to upgrade an alert level of the incident, where the incident command post would be located, how and where to evacuate aircraft passengers and crew, and how to manage the media.

Many participants committed to actions after the exercise to further improve preparedness. A full-scale exercise will be in the works for the future.

Thanks to the Operations Team who planned and managed the tabletop exercise.

A derelict Boeing 727 at King County International Airport – Boeing Field (KCIA) was dismantled and disposed of the week of November 8. The disposal was done by a qualified aircraft disassembly and recycling contractor in accordance with federal and state regulations and as much of the plane as possible was recycled.

The 727, manufactured in 1978, was no longer airworthy according to the FAA. The local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) determined that repairs needed to be made to the aircraft before a ferry permit could be issued. The aircraft’s former owner, the Airline History Museum (AHM) in Kansas City, had originally hoped to fly the plane to Missouri for display. Unfortunately, AHM had not paid rent to KCIA in years and did not responded to multiple requests to move the plane. In addition, neither AHM nor the new owner entered into an agreement with the airport to relocate the aircraft or provided the required registration, payment and insurance certificate to keep the plane at KCIA.

A court action last year declared the aircraft a nuisance, allowing King County to remove the plane. King County issued an RFP in early 2021 and contracted with a vendor to manage aircraft demolition and recycling. KCIA delayed the disposal, extending several opportunities to AHM to retrieve the 727, but the museum failed to follow through.

KCIA is a space-constrained airport. This aircraft was taking up several tie-down spots which have a years-long waiting list of people who would like to park and fly in and out of KCIA. The aircraft was also an obstruction to several major planned construction projects.

We're starting a new periodic piece in Plane Talk featuring recent hires. Please give our new folks a welcome wave and hello if you see them around the airport!

Employee name: Donald McClendon

Position: Equipment Operator

Job duties: Donald joins the team to provide Foreign Object Debris (FOD) control using airfield and road sweepers, airfield mowing with our John Deere tractors; and snow blower operations on the airport’s Snow and Ice Team. He is also responsible for operating a variety of other heavy construction equipment in support of routine airport maintenance duties, paving, and special projects.

Start date: 10/23/2021

Experience: A native of Mesa Arizona, Donald served the City of Mesa for 15 years in their Transportation Department. He rose through the ranks of equipment operator to transportation foreman and supervisor. He’s spent many years sweeping, paving and sealing city roads and has experience responding to flash floods and striping airfields in the hot Arizona desert.

Education and training: Donald is a graduate of Red Mountain High School. He is a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) equipment operator and has a multitude of technical certifications, including Work Zone Safety, Hazardous Material Work, Light Rail Safety, and Lift Truck qualified.

What are you looking forward to in this position? Adding my 15 years of knowledge of pavement preservation, supervising and heavy equipment operating.

What do you enjoy in your free time? I like to hang out with my wife and 6 year old son. We like discovering new places. Just moving here from Arizona we have a lot of new places to discover.