The Brookhaven-Lincoln County Airport is wounded but operatingthis week after weekend storms damaged at least three systems, saidAirport Manager Clifford Britt.

Britt said what he expects was a single lightning strike hit theairport sometime last weekend and knocked out some electricalcomponents on the airport’s Automatic Weather Observation System(AWOS), fuel terminal and main entrance gate. He expected thereplacement parts – mostly circuit boards – to arrive within oneweek and cost anywhere from approximately $2,000 to $3,500.

Britt said some electronic systems at the airport are equippedwith lightning arrestors, but the tiny attachments don’t alwaysstop a 1 million-volt charge.

“Lightning strikes around an airport, so when you have so muchelectronic equipment, something’s bound to get hit,” Britt said.”You can have all the protection in the world, and it will stillfind a way to get to your equipment.”

In the meantime, Britt has cut, spliced and twisted wires andreprogrammed airport computers to keep the damaged systems workingand the airport open. The systems are malfunctioning, but working,he said.

Britt said the AWOS, which continually broadcasts weatherinformation to pilots, is broadcasting ’round the clock. Normally,the system would only broadcast when the computer-generated voicespeaks, but now it broadcasts the dead spots as well, he said – aminor annoyance at most that produces a few seconds of staticbetween updates.

“It’s not closing the contact that makes it transmit,” Brittsaid. “It transmits continually, just like a radio station.”

Keeping the AWOS alive is a top priority, Britt said, asincoming pilots must use its information to land safely. Barometricpressure information, for instance, is used to synchronize anaircraft’s altimeter to the airport’s 487-foot elevation, hesaid.

The lightning strike completely disabled the airport’s fuelterminal, Britt said, short-circuiting all the numbers on theexterior keypad.

The shorts won’t allow the fuel system’s computer to acceptinput, he said, so he rewired the terminal to use only the “fillup” option, meaning pilots will have to keep a close eye on thepump to avoid spills. Normally, Britt said the terminal would allowpilots to pump a specified number of gallons.

Finally, lightning also fried the airport’s automatic front gatecontrols, Britt said, requiring a new circuit board.

All in all, Britt said the damage was just an inconvenience tothe airport, which remained open throughout last weekend’s and thisweek’s rainy weather. Even if the airport were forced to close,it’s doubtful the local flying community would have noticed.

“With this kind of weather, nobody’s flying anyway,” Britt said.”When a front’s coming in, it grounds everybody except the planeswith IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) that fly at high altitudes. Whenyou have thunderstorms, it’s best not to fly light aircraft.”

Britt said the likelihood of another crippling lightning strikeis low – it’s been years since a strike like last weekend’s damagedso many systems, and may be years before it happens again. Even ifthe airport suffered a total loss of power, he said importantsystems like the AWOS have a backup power supply, and the airport’scomputer systems are protected.

The fuel system is not long for the airport, anyway, Britt said,as approximately $300,000 in grant funds will be used for theconstruction of a new fuel farm beginning in May. The project willsee the installation of two aboveground 12,000 fuel tanks.

“Thank goodness – we need it terribly,” Britt said. “Some of ourfuel system is 42 years old. Anything that lasts 40 years has morethan paid for itself. We’re right at the point where it’s necessaryto upgrade.”

Britt resigned as airport manager after Tuesday night’s specialcalled board of aldermen meeting.