Team effort opens airport

While area residents were struggling early last week to dig out from under the two feet of heavy snow left behind by storm Xylia, Custer’s airport manager was concerned about the possibility of needing to land and take off an aircraft for a medical evacuation.
For that to take place, the 5,000-foot asphalt runway would have to be cleared of drifted snow and enough room on the apron near the terminal would need to be opened up so any planes could be turned around.
With that concern on his mind, Brenden Hendrick-son was up before sunrise  Sunday even as the snow  continued to come down, covering the airport with another six inches. His four-wheeler got stuck even before he left home and his neighbor, Claude Smith, who came over to help, got his ATV stuck as well.
After finally making it to the airport, Hendrickson went to work with the facility’s big Case tractor and blade to push snow to the edges of the asphalt to open the runway, making five-foot-tall walls of snow on either side in the process.  
With Monday’s new snowfall, he was back out there again and spent the daylight hours of the next couple of days pushing tons of the white stuff. By Tuesday night he had dug down to the blacktop on the runway and had a trail across the apron to the terminal. In addition to the tractor, Hendrickson said the airport has a pickup with a V plow and “lots of shovels.”
“I have actually worn a couple of shovels out,” he laughed.
After working three days by himself, on Tuesday night Hendrickson decided to call in the cavalry and placed a call to county highway superintendent Jesse Doyle.
The next day Doyle brought a large crew from the nearby highway shop driving four motor graders and a front-end loader. With Hendrickson working alongside them, they pushed and hauled snow until about 3 p.m., finishing the job. Hendrickson said there was so much snow he had to open the emergency gates in the airport’s tall security fence so the excess could be dumped outside.
“I could not have done it without the Custer County Highway Department,” said Hendrickson Thursday morning. “Jesse Doyle and Kevin Treloar and their crew are the real heroes! They went over and above what I asked them to do.”
After he was able to reopen the airport for landings and takeoffs, Hendrickson went out to check damage to his runway lights caused by the equipment. Fortunately, only three of the dozens of lights were broken and they are an easy fix because they are made to break off easily if impacted.
After all those hours pushing snow, Hendrickson said he was so worn out by Thursday, a virus had caught up with him. But at least he was able to rest knowing the airport was open and ready for business.