Kentucky Airport Suffers Hit From Deadly Tornado

An estimated one dozen aircraft and 18 hangars are believed to be a total loss after a deadly tornado struck the Danville-Boyle County Airport in Kentucky early Saturday morning, according to reports.

The airport was along the path of a string of powerful thunderstorms that spawned more than 30 tornadoes across six states. Courtesy: Danville-Boyle County Airport

An estimated one dozen aircraft and 18 hangars are believed to be a total loss after a deadly tornado struck the Danville-Boyle County Airport in Kentucky early Saturday morning, according to reports.

The airport, located about 40 miles south of Lexington, Kentucky, was along the path of a string of powerful thunderstorms that spawned more than 30 tornadoes across six states, according to the National Weather Service.

“We come with heavy news this morning,” the airport said, via its Facebook page Saturday morning. “Unfortunately the airport was hit by a tornado at approximately 4:00AM this morning. 3 of our T-Hangars are leveled. Luckily no one was injured.”

The airport posted photos of flipped aircraft and building debris, mangled in heaps of broken, crumpled metal.

“It’s really disheartening you know you put your heart and soul into this airport, and it becomes almost like your child and especially when you have an aircraft here that’s mangled up in all this rubble,” Nick Barker, operations manager at the Danville-Boyle County Airport, told local station WKYT.

Stretching more than 200 miles long, the storm was the longest tornado track on record and the largest in Kentucky history, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday.

As of Saturday evening, at least 70 people in Kentucky were believed to have died in the storm, the New York Times reported.

Kimberly is managing editor of FLYING Digital.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get the latest FLYING stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox

Subscribe to our newsletter
By entering your email, you agree to receive communications from FlyingMag.