Strong winds damage planes at Chesapeake Regional Airport

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) – Strong winds Thursday evening damaged several planes housed at the Chesapeake Regional Airport.

The storms moved through this area just after 5 p.m. on July 18.

According to Jim Parkman, Owner and General Manager of Epix Aviation, one of his planes was destroyed after winds shifted it across the tarmac. He said five others were damaged, some “severely.” That’s half of his planes that are now damaged. He said the planes were strapped down on the tarmac, but the winds were so strong, they broke the tie-downs free.

According to Parkman, another company also received damage to some of its planes.

When WAVY arrived at the airport Friday morning, all of the damaged planes were in the hangar and not visible from outside.

Work was underway to repair a damaged antenna on Parkman’s building at the airport when WAVY was there.

Super Doppler 10 Meteorologist Ricky Matthews said winds in Chesapeake at the time of this incident clocked in around 50-60 mph.

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