The Russian Mission airstrip should be fully functional again by Tuesday afternoon.
Four children destroyed the lighting system by smashing more than 50 runway lights over the weekend.
No planes could land after dark, including medevacs.
No flights were canceled because of the damage, said Jim Duffy, who maintains the Russian Mission runway for the Alaska Department of Transportation.
If a medevac needed to fly in, he says that he would do what was done 30 years ago:
“Use a coffee can with a roll of toilet paper and diesel in it,” Duffy said. “It’ll burn 45 minutes to an hour.”
Duffy called the vandalism, “nothing malicious. Just bored kids, little kids”
The children were about 6- to 9-years-old, Duffy said. He talked to most of the parents. At least one child is grounded.
Duffy calls replacing destroyed runway lights “routine.”
The runway apron is the only dry place in town this time of year.
After planes are done flying, kids go there to play baseball or capture-the-flag.
Some lights get smashed often, he said.
Duffy is used to changing about 25 lights a year.
But replacing more than twice that amount from a single spree, Duffy calls “really bad.”
The kids usually police themselves, he said. The cost to replace the lights is about $1,000.
The Russian Mission school is using the incident as a teachable moment.
The school counselor along with a couple high school students will talk with classrooms Tuesday about how smashing the lights affects the entire community.
