ZLO 1st-Hand

Posted by Lois Lane on October 20, 2011, 2:38 pm
187.146.73.244

The intrepid Lois Lane and her driver, Debbie, just got back from ZLO, trying to determine whether or not Debbie can actually get out of here this weekend. Here's the deal: The airport entrance road is barricaded at Hwy 200,although service (and press) vehicles can get around the barrels. The first half of the drive is a causeway (water on both sides) with several spots where water is rushing under the road (one hopes through drainage pipes, or it will soon be undermined). It is passable, however still considered dangerous. The last half of the drive, approaching the terminal, is fine. Runways appear to be okay. Officials at the airport say ZLO IS open. We spoke with an Alaska Airlines representative at the airport who said some of their executives from Seattle were flying into ZLO this afternoon, ETA 2:30, to assess the entrance road and talk with road maintenance crews. If both parties concur the road is safe, Alaska flight 256 from LAX will land and return flight 257 will depart at its regularly scheduled time. Debbie will check with the airport later for their decision and post the result here. The road on the airport side of the bridge at Cihuatlan is passable. The condition from the bridge to past where the checkpoint/inspection station used to be is much the same as when the road was under construction a few years ago. Going through Cihuatlan is slower than usual as crews continue to work on cleaning up tons of mud. Water under the bridge has gone down considerably, but is still moving right along. If you haven't been down that far, the devastation is incredible, and very depressing. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! Stay tuned for future updates regarding Saturday's Alaska flight status.

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