Japan’s Sendai Airport Opens Runway For Relief Efforts

Six days ago an 8.9 magnitude earthquake rocked Japan and a triggered a tsunami that washed over Sendai Airport, in the Miyagi Prefecture, 166 miles north of Narita Airport, turning the airport into a lake.

As of today construction crews have cleared nearly 5,000 feet of runway 9/27, which is 9,842 feet in length. The clearing of a portion of Runway 9/27 has allowed rescue and relief aircraft to begin flying into the heavily damaged City and surrounding Prefecture.

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has not yet had the opportunity to determine how severely damaged the runway is, with more than 4,000 feet of the runway remaining under mud and debris, however the opening of any section of Runway 9/27 is important to providing assistance to the significantly damaged region.

You can view video of footage of the massive damage Sendai Airport sustained here – Japan’s Sendai Airport vs Mother Nature’s Tsunami

Happy Flying!