CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Passengers at Charleston’s Yeager Airport are looking to rebook their trips after all flights were canceled Friday following a deadly cargo plane wreck that left two crew members dead.
Margaret Pauley, of St. Albans, had an American Airlines flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.
“My grandson is graduating college tomorrow (Saturday) and they’re going to try and get me there in time, but they don’t know,” Pauley told MetroNews.
She is now trying to book a flight from Huntington’s Tri-State Airport.
“He said if I would drive to Huntington they may be able to get me a flight or if I would drive to Columbus, but he said why don’t we try for the 4:00 (p.m.) tomorrow, so that’s what we’re going to do,” Pauley said.
Pauley said her son picked her up to bring her to the airport Friday morning before the crash was reported at around 7 a.m.
“His wife called him on his phone as we was getting ready to go out the door and said you can’t get in. They got it all blocked, so we waited a few minutes and then they said that the road was open,” she said.
The pilot and co-pilot died in the crash. Airport officials said they were the only ones on the plane. Both are from the Charleston area.
There are 20 flights that depart from Yeager on a daily bases.
The airport remained closed Friday afternoon. Yeager Airport Director Terry Sayre they’re working with airlines to get passengers to where they need to be.
“Some of them are being rebooked out of Huntington — the ones that are on American. I don’t know about the Delta. United — I hope they have agreements and can book them out of Huntington if they have seats available,” Sayre said.
“We’re just trying to help work with airlines to help accommodate especially if someone’s got stranded here.”
The National Transportation Board has been called in to investigate the crash.
Sayre said crews at Yeager needs to wait for the NTSB to arrive before removing items from the crash site. The plane was owned by Air Cargo Carriers, a contractor for UPS. It was carrying packages from Louisville, Kentucky.