ST. LOUIS – The news out of Reagan National Airport is impacting flights at Lambert St. Louis International Airport.
American Airlines reported two cancellations to the nation’s capital Thursday from Lambert.
Things were running smoothly at the airport with passengers saying Wednesday night’s news has definitely been on their mind. Everyone FOX 2 spoke with said they still feel safe flying.
The conversation of the deadly crash outside of Washington, D.C., could be heard throughout the airport
“It doesn’t happen often, but obviously you do think about it. It didn’t really bother me as much, but you did hear people talk about it,” traveler Leonard Burress said.
Others were reminding themselves of the statistics regarding air travel.
“It’s been a long time since there was one of these. It’s a very unfortunate thing that happened and very sad—but I trust the system,” another passenger, Alan MacDonald, added.
At Lambert, that system includes large-scale emergency training exercises staff had over the summer.
“It takes a team effort throughout the airport to really understand how this operates and how we all fit together,” Deputy Director of Operations and Maintenance David Kulinsky said. “We have it designed out. We practice this every single year.”
The FAA’s website states the air traffic organization handles around 45,000 flights each day and roughly 10 million every year. The last deadly domestic crash happened in 2009.
While it’s rare, it still gives passengers a pause.
“I talked to my wife about it last night. She was a little nervous about me getting on a plane today. If it were driving distance, I would definitely consider driving, but I don’t think it would truly deter me from flying,” Burress added.