Fog delays, cancels flights at Roberts Field

Foggy weather caused headaches for travelers at the Redmond Airport on Friday. Flights were delayed and canceled all morning.

Many passengers hoped to touch down at Roberts Field Thursday night or Friday morning, but instead spent the night in various other airports.

“Got as far as Redmond almost with no problems,” travelers John Sellers said Friday, “made it about 10 feet off the ground and we were diverted, (went) around again a second time, then had to go to Medford. So I spent the night in Medford Airport.”

Sellers had already traveled for more than 20 hours on his way home to Bend from France.

People were understanding about the weather, though most were very tired.

David Krueger said his plane circled the Redmond runway several times before finally returning to PDX, where he spent the night trying to get some rest.

“I tried the floor at first, and that didn’t work,” Krueger said. “So then I found a chair and that kind of worked. Then somebody started vacuuming next to me and that woke me up at like 3 a.m. So (I slept) about two hours.”

Security coordinator Nicole Jurgensen said taking off in fog is fine, but planes can’t land. Because of that five of the eight planes they usually start the day at RDM with never made it back Thursday night. That led to more delays and cancellations Friday.

“This time of year, the weather can be so unpredictable,” Jorgensen said, “and no one can control the weather. So everybody here works the best and the hardest they can to help them get where they’re going.”

As holiday travel picks up, Jorgensen recommends checking in two hours in advance. The airport is also hoping to get cameras installed in the parking lots before peak travel hits. They’ll be updated every five minutes, so people can monitor the parking situation.

Passengers can also check their flight status and get real time flight information at the link below:

http://www.flyrdm.com/?Flight-Status