Council Bluffs airport helps Kansas City flight school after losing aircraft in storm

The Council Bluffs airport is lending planes to a Kansas City flight school after its fleet was heavily damaged in severe weather last week.
Published: Apr. 26, 2023 at 6:53 PM CDT
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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa. (WOWT) - A strong storm that swept through downtown Kansas City last week destroyed 11 out of 13 of ATD Flight System’s planes.

Now, Council Bluffs Municipal Airport and Lisa Lamantia with Revv Aviation is lending a helping hand.

A Council Bluffs flight school is donating planes to Kansas City's downtown airport after storm damage last week.

“We’ve gathered different planes from different locations and we brought them here to Council Bluffs,” Lamantia said. “ATD will be flying up here to take these planes to Kansas City.”

Lamantia told 6 News replacing air equipment can be costly. A single-engine aircraft can run between $120,000 to $250,000.

“We’re a competitor flight school and we can’t imagine what it’s like to lose all your equipment in one day,” Lamantia said.

The airport has all the aircraft ready to travel to Kansas City.

Jerome Howard is a chief instructor for Revv Aviation. He hopes lending the planes will help ATD continue its mission.

“Having eleven of your aircraft basically get destroyed is going to put a damper on your flight training and student’s progress,” Howard said.

Lamantia also hopes it will give ATD enough time to replace all the damaged aircraft and get back on its feet.

“At least it’s some way to keep people near their check-ride, going to get their license, or get a rating to get their goal done,” Lamantia said.

Replacing 11 of the damaged small planes in Kansas City could take two weeks or more.