While the moon is set to obscure the sun on April 8, a swarm of aircraft arriving at Poplar Bluff Regional Business Airport before the event will block out its fair share of sunlight.
Director Gary Pride estimates there will be 175 arrivals, pushing the airport’s capacity to its limit. He also confirmed it will be the largest volume of planes and passengers the facility has dealt with to date.
Pride added this would be contingent on the weather. If heavy clouds or rain obscure Poplar Bluff, the aircraft will likely scramble to find a new destination with better chances of seeing the eclipse.
At the time of this article, airborn umbraphiles have snapped up 65% of available spots. Pride said he gets 10 calls per day inquiring about getting a slot.
“That’ll get worse the closer we get,” he affirmed.
A Gulfstream 550, a $58 million jet and the largest craft the airport has ever handled, is slated to make an appearance. Pride confirmed flights will be originating from as far as Oregon and New York, although most will be from within a 300-mile radius.
Some international fliers looked into Poplar Bluff’s airport, but he directed them to places like Houston due to the larger average size of aircraft required to fly such a distance.
“We just can’t support the weight of them,” Pride explained.
The arrivals will be a mix of private, chartered and corporation-owned craft. Pride stated flyers will be arriving throughout Saturday and Sunday with some aiming to show up the morning of the eclipse.
Operators of some of the smaller planes will camp out under the wings of their aircraft.
He hopes visitors will return to Poplar Bluff and said, “It’s an exciting time for us to show some of these people a lot of the natural wonders we have around here.”
Anticipating an all-hands-on-deck operation, Pride expressed confidence in the airport staff’s ability to meet the challenge.