Airports
New Orleans Lakefront Shakes Off Effects of Isaac
Most owners removed their aircraft from Lakefront, but a few remained, including this King Air 90, V-tail Bonanza and Baron in Flightlinefirst’s hangar. (Photo: Bonny Schumaker/On Wings of Care)
Most owners removed their aircraft from Lakefront, but a few remained, including this King Air 90, V-tail Bonanza and Baron in Flightlinefirst’s hangar. (Photo: Bonny Schumaker/On Wings of Care)

For U.S. Gulf Coast residents history repeated itself at the end of August when Hurricane Isaac struck, seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore and nearly drowned New Orleans. The storm caused the temporary closure of several area airports and forced others to declare “ATC-zero” status due to tower shutdowns or other lapses in contact with ATC. According to Jim McClay with NBAA’s Air Traffic Services, while Isaac forced the closure of traffic routes over the Gulf of Mexico for less than two days, a shorter period than anticipated, most business aviation operators heeded the warnings and stayed away. “Overall because of the storm there wasn’t a lot of traffic headed down there anyway, so the impact was pretty minimal,” he said.