On Friday, February 3, and Monday, February 6, theClaytonJ.LloydInternationalAirportinAnguilla, temporarily enjoyed the status of a category six aerodrome. The upgraded status was to enable the aerodrome to accommodate a Boeing 737charter aircraft which flew in and out of the island on a flight from and toNorth Carolina.
Permission was granted to airport officials in Anguilla by Air Safety Support International, in theUnited Kingdom, to temporarily upgrade the aerodrome from its published category 5 rating to category 6 to accommodate the aircraft which carried 18 passengers and a 4-member crew. The plane, operated by SAS Institute Incorporated, occupied an area of the runway allocated to large and wide-bodied aircraft.
Airport Manager,RemingtonLake, told media representatives last Friday afternoon (February 3) that the 737/ 300 series aircraft, which landed at 12.45 p.m., was a category 6 plane. “It means that to accommodate the aircraft we had to increase the category of the airport. It entailed us having two fire trucks, and we also had to increase the number of men managing those trucks,” he explained. “We sought permission from our regulators to have all of this done.
“The main condition was that we had to increase the category, 90 minutes before the aircraft landed, and 90 minutes after the landing. We also had to undertake to do the same thing on Monday when the aircraft is leaving.”
Under the regulations for a category 5 airport, seven Firemen are usually required to man the fire service. However, for the upgraded category 6 aerodrome, a total of twelve Firemen (including three Officers and two Station Officers, along with two fire tenders) were placed on duty, supervised by a Fire Station Officer, for the arrival and departure of the aircraft.
Chief Fire Officer, Martin Richardson, described the airport as being well-regulated and stressed that it must comply with the regulations stipulated by Air Safety Support International.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lake pointed out that the Anguilla Fire and Rescue Services, based at the airport, comprised a domestic fire service and an aerodrome fire service. “Because of logistics we had to put all of them under one roof but, at any given day, there are a domestic unit and an aerodrome unit,” he explained. “The aerodrome unit must always have the required numbers [of Firemen]. If we reduced thosenumbers, we will have to downgrade the aerodrome from a category 5…”
Mr. Martin Richardson emphasised the importance of both theairport fire service and the larger domestic fire service in which, he said, all of the officers were under constant training and preparation and were “not just sitting around” as some persons thought.
Mr. Lake pointed to the need to keep the airport runway and markings up to the required high standard of maintenance to ensure that the aerodrome retained its category 5 status.
