ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9701020089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
JUST LIKE LAST YEAR, returning bowl-goers had trouble getting home from the big game.
For the second year in a row, fog in the Roanoke Valley prevented Virginia Tech fans returning from a bowl game from arriving on time at Roanoke Regional Airport.
Of 11 chartered planes scheduled to arrive at the airport Wednesday, only five were able to land. Three of those planes landed in the morning and the other two by 2 p.m. Fog prevented any planes from landing at the airport after 4 p.m. Planes unable to land were diverted to Richmond and the passengers were bused to Roanoke, said the deputy director of the airport, Mark Courtney.
"[Arrivals] have been sporadic, and weather conditions have deteriorated," Courtney said. "I guess today's our turn; Richmond was socked in yesterday."
"It's kind of a frustrating situation. We don't make any arrangements [with the charter companies and travel agencies]; we just happen to be the place they take off and land," Courtney said. "We got beat up a bit last year because people were under the impression that we are responsible."
Despite the problems, people were in good spirits overall, Courtney said. "It doesn't appear that there will be any repeats of last year's strandings."
Sandra Moore of Roanoke called The Roanoke Times newsroom about 5 p.m. from an airport in Hollywood, Fla., to report the departure difficulties. Her flight with Sun Pacific was delayed, not because of fog, though that would likely come into play later, but because "the plane was inoperable" and repairs were being made.
Moore wasn't overly upset with the delay, even though she had been at the airport since 11:30 a.m., but instead wanted to know the scores for other bowl games being played New Year's Day.
By 7 p.m., most of the charter buses had arrived at the airport and unloaded passengers for the short drives home. Only about 15 people were still sitting patiently, watching what they were able to see, of the empty tarmac outside smothered in a dense fog.
Steve Murray of Roanoke was waiting to pick up his father, William Murray, and his father's wife, Gwen, both of Roanoke. "I was remembering what a disaster it was last year. I'm hoping they'll be able to get here. We thought we'd make a stab at it so his car would be here when he arrives."
Kim and Rob Taylor were waiting patiently at the airport for Kim's parents, Barry and Dot Divers of Roanoke, but they didn't know the couple's flight number, so they weren't sure exactly when the Diverses would show up.
If the Diverses had to take a charter bus from Richmond and didn't arrive soon, "they'll have to fend for themselves," the Taylors joked.
One man, who had been waiting about two hours, didn't mind at all. "It's not bad. I've been enjoying the quiet. There are so many [relatives visiting for the holidays] at my house, it's good downtime for me," said Dick Moore of Salem.
Two planes were still en route to Roanoke, although the fog showed no signs of lifting, at 8 p.m. One of those, a Miami Air charter, was forced to turn back to Fort Lauderdale for reasons unclear to airport personnel. It was unknown if the plane would even be able to try again Wednesday.
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB