Conga line of Rotary Cutter’s clearing heavy snow at Dulles
Credit: Steve Settle
SN W
SEASON
AT THE AIRPORTS
The forecast calls for snow in the D.C. region,
but have no fear; the snow teams at Dulles and
Reagan Airports are ready and waiting to clear that
powdery white stuff from the runways. Our snow
teams, comprised of Metropolitan Washington
Airports Authority employees, work in 6-hour shifts
removing snow and ice from the airfield so planes
can take off and land.
Remember the blizzard of 2016 (aka Winter Storm
Jonas or Snowzilla)? Our snow teams certainly do.
They pushed 109 million cubic feet of snow from
Dulles International Airport alone. 109 million cubic
feet of snow is equal to clearing 12” of snow off of
one driving lane between Dulles and Breckenridge,
CO! Snow was falling at an astronomical rate, with
complete white out conditions at times, but our
teams worked around the clock. Dulles and Reagan
closed for almost two days to clear the historical
snow from the runways and airfield.
When the snow teams are called in, they eat and
sleep at the airport waiting for their shift to drive
the monster snow equipment we have on hand.
The machinery is amazing, but our employees
who run the equipment are incredible and are an
integral part of making the airports run smoothly
during these type of events.
FLYWASHINGTON.COM 10 WINTER 2018/19
Rotary Cutter (snow blast) clearing surface area
Credit: Steve Settle
Combo unit clearing taxiway at Dulles
Credit: Steve Settle