Creswell

Airport Manager: No explosion at airport

It was a dust devil – not an explosion, but it caused one hectic afternoon at Creswell Hobby Field Airport on Monday.
At about 4 p.m., pilot Dave Erwin was in the air, readying to land, when he saw debris from 500 feet in the air, Hobby Field Airport Manager Shelley Humble said.
Seeing the debris hundreds of feet in the air and a pile of twisted up metal below, Erwin thought a bomb had gone off in one of the hangars, Humble said.
Erwin contacted Cascade Tower, creating a snowball effect, she said. Lane County Sheriff’s Office was the first to show up on scene, with South Lane County Fire & Rescue soon to follow.
What was discovered was that a rogue wind gust blew between a couple of hangars closest to the highway, pulling back the metal on one of the hangar’s roofs, Humble said
It was Bill Kelly’s hangar that was affected, owner of the flight school at the airport, About Time Aviation. Humble said four or five of 15-foot metal sheets on his hangar were ripped up and crinkled by the wind.
Humble called back Cascade Tower to alert them there was no bomb or explosion; it was simply a dust devil.
The guesstimated cost of damage likely ranges from $2,500 to $3,000, Humble said. There was no structural damage done to the rest of the hangar.
There were no injuries reported.

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