C-32, C-17 carrying President Bush, equipment for visit damaged runways

Back in September, we reported a story that a presidential C-32 aircraft (military version of the Boeing 757) landed at Las Cruces airport in New Mexico, even though the Bush Administration had been clearly told that none of the airport's runways could handle the weight of the aircraft.

It now appears that another aircraft in the mission may have caused more damages to the runway, and the cost of the repair has already been estimated at $2 million. The Bush reelection campaign staff, which was responsible for the travel arrangements in the first place, refuses to take responsibility for the damage because the aircraft belong the US Air Force, and the Air Force claims that the city gave them permission to land. It has yet to be established, though, why the pilots chose to land their aircraft on a runway that could not handle their weight, putting in danger the aircraft, the equipment it was carrying and the lives of the crew.

Runway 22 at Las Cruces, one of three, and the longest one, is now unusable, due to deep ruts and cuts made by the USAF aircraft, according to city facilities director Brian Denmark. The repair estimates originally came to $1 million, but estimates done by engineering firms in Albuquerque and Las Cruces exceed that by at least a factor of two.

According to Las Cruces Airport Manager Theresa Cook, the two engineering companies estimate the cost of repairing and resurfacing the runway at between $1.7 and $2.1 million.

Both the C-32 and another C-17 cargo aircraft landed at the airport. The C-32 caused the ruts on the runway, marked by skid marks that ended some 2,500 down the runway. The C-17 caused further damage when it slowly taxied backwards on a runway that not only could not handle the weight, but was also softened by the hot afternoon sun. There were in fact four aircraft that landed that way, two C-32's and two C-17's, but it is not known if the other aircraft also caused damage at the airport.

Cook told the Associated Press that her office had clearly informed the Air Force, as well as President Bush's travel team, the details of the runway and warned them that the aircraft planned to arrive were too heavy. However, the city could not prohibit the pilots of the aircraft from landing.

FMI: www.las-cruces.org/airport