Flights diverted due to technical problems

Staff report

VIENNA

A technical problem with a landing device near the runway at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport led to day long headaches for Allegiant Air customers Wednesday.

Dan Dickten, the local airport’s director of aviation, said the problem started Wednesday morning when a flight from St. Petersburg, Fla., had to be diverted to the Toledo Express Airport instead of landing here.

The Allegiant aircraft could not land because the airport’s Instrument Landing System, which helps aircraft land in poor weather conditions, was not working properly.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which owns, operates and maintains the system, had been working on it since Monday, Dickten said.

The flight was due to arrive here at 10:25 a.m., with another flight leaving at 11:05 a.m.

Buses were chartered so that customers in Vienna could be taken to Toledo. The customers in Toledo were being brought back to Vienna on the same buses, Dickten said.

An Allegiant flight to Orlando that was scheduled for Wednesday evening was pushed back one day, and Dickten said he’s hopeful that the Instrument Landing System will be back in operation in time for that to happen.

Dickten stressed that the problem was not Allegiant’s fault, and he hopes Allegiant customers will understand that this problem is far from common. Jack Sullivan, the airport’s maintenance and operations superintendent, said he’s never seen anything like this happen in his 38 years at the airport.