It's Airport Day.

One of several favorable events following the Haiti earthquake that devastated most of the capital, Port au Prince, was that the international airport there wasn't badly damaged. The control tower was down, and there was damage to the passenger terminal, but the runway and offloading ramp were functional. That greatly speeded up getting first-responders into the city.



Unfortunately, the airfield only has one operational runway, and there is no room to add a second, temporary runway. Apparently the airfield is handling 125 or more flights a day, where its usual activity prior to the earthquake was six to ten flights a day.

Two other limiting factors is the difficulty of supplying the airport with fuel through the damaged harbor facilities, and ramp space.


This photo shows two C-130 aircraft (one US), one US C-17, a dozen or so smaller aircraft, and six to eight helicopters. The tent camp on the left side of the image probably houses the airfield personnel that keep supplies flowing into the airfield and out into the city, as well as keeping aircraft turn-around to a minimum.

All of the highways leading out of the airfield area are in good condition, and don't appear to have suffered any delay-causing damage.

This area, less than two miles from the airport, show some of the damage the people of Haiti are contending with.



The area on the left contains one of the many tent cities that have sprung up throughout the area. Close examination of the buildings on the right show several buildings that have collapsed into the streets.

If the photos appear too small to see detail, click on them for a full-size view.