RDM reopens – and fliers return to find buried cars

The Redmond Airport is back up and running — at least for now. The airport had been closed since early Monday morning because snow damaged a piece of equipment, but by noon Wednesday, planes were taking off and landing.

But just because the airport was operating smoothly doesn’t mean the parking lot was as well.

As passengers arrived after being delayed for days, they found their cars buried deep in feet of snow.

All over the parking lot, people were hard at work, using whatever they had to scrape the feet of snow off their vehicles.

One man who just got back from Cancun only had a Costco card to scrape the mound of snow off his truck.

Meanwhile, Mark McKie, who was trying to get home from San Antonio, was using a broom.

“So found out it was canceled and I can’t get another flight out of Seattle until Friday at midnight, so I decided to go to Portland last night, and then I drove here. It was pretty clear until I got to Madras. and it took forever,” McKie said. “Then I came out here and my truck was buried under 3 1/2 feet of snow. So I bought a broom and went at it.”

One couple was clearing the snow off the car of their friends, who aren’t getting in until later tonight.

“We volunteered to come up here and dig them out, knowing there was no way in the world they would be able to do that. So that’s what we’re doing. We’ve been digging for 45 minutes now, I suppose,” Claire Davidson said.

The airport was closed Monday when a piece of equipment that helps pilots navigate landings in bad weather was damaged.

Natalie Byrnes and her husband were in good spirits, despite having a rough night of sleep.

“We made it to Salt Lake from Vegas. Then we were supposed to fly in at 8 p.m. last night but ended up sleeping at the Salt Lake City Airport,” Byrnes said. “We have a snowmobile shovel, so that should help us a little bit, and thankfully we have gloves in the car.”

If you’re flying in or out of Redmond this week, be sure to check the airport’s website for the latest information: http://www.flyrdm.com/?Flight-Status.