The worlds only hub airport to operate in temperatures as low as -38 Celsius, and contend with winds over 100mph. With nearly 1000 flights per day, how does the airport stay open?
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year at airports across America, but Ted Stevens International in Anchorage (ACN) presents several added challenges. It's remote, the weather is extreme, and so is the local wildlife. Follow the airport's hardworking staff--in the terminal and on the tarmac--as they spend the day taking on snowstorms, lightning strikes, and even birds of prey, all while welcoming through 187 cargo planes, 241 commercial jets, and thousands of passengers (including one North Pole celebrity).
It's the only hub airport on the planet to operate in temperatures as low as -38 Celsius and winds over 100mph. Katie chases a moose on a runway, and weather threatens Nick's flight into the interior.
Ted Stevens Airport (ANC) is about to make history in a way no one could have anticipated. They are awaiting the first flight of American evacuees arriving from the coronavirus-plagued city of Wuhan, China. The North Terminal has been locked. Somehow, they must screen 201 potentially infected passengers while keeping operations running normally. Add on a damaging three-day snowstorm and a daring, first-ever attempt to airlift a small plane by helicopter, and it makes for a blizzard of challenges for the men and woman of the "Ice Airport."
Every year, up to six million tons of snow fall at Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC) in winter, and this season, there are no signs of the bad weather letting up. The airfield clearing team has been working 24/7 to keep the runways open during a storm that would shut down other airports in minutes. Witness the precisely choreographed dance of multi-million-dollar machinery used to plow potentially lethal ice and snow and to clear the 6,000 lights and high tech instrument landing systems so pilots can safely land their planes.
Winter is nearly over in Alaska, but at Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC), spring seems a long way off. Snow is falling at an inch an hour and even with $40 million dollars' worth of equipment, the airfield maintenance crew is struggling to stay on top of the blizzard and keep the runways operational. The airport is also experiencing white-out conditions, which play a role in a de-icing truck flipping over. It's an accident that could release a 2,000-gallon cocktail of hazardous chemicals and diesel fuel unless it is quickly contained.
The holidays bring more passengers, more crime, and more blizzards to the Ice Airport.
A freak storm may freeze the delivery of urgent medical supplies.
A harsh winter cancels flights but can't keep rescue pilots from saving the day.
Follow ace pilots and their customised aircraft as they keep Alaska’s isolated areas fed and connected through winter.
The National Guard attempts a mid-air refuel in a violent windstorm, and the TSA discovers a suspicious package.
A downed pilot makes an emergency call for a helicopter rescue and it’s a race to get there in time.
There’s a serious threat to airport security and a couple fly out to get married on top of a glacier.
Urgent maintenance to a Boeing 737 Max 9 is needed to avoid flight delays and Customs uncover a smuggling ring.
A suspected toxic leak grounds a 737 at Anchorage International, engine trouble endangers the mid-air refueling of the USAF's most advanced fighter jet in Alaska, and a discovery at airport customs busts a potential smuggling.
Crews at Alaska's biggest airport race to repair a broken snowblower in advance of a major winter storm, and a group of Air Force pilots learn how to survive in extreme Arctic conditions.
A family-run airline flies emergency supplies to a remote village hit by water pollution. Alaska's biggest cargo airline loads high explosives on a busy runway, and Anchorage's elite pilots come to the rescue of a holiday party.
Record-breaking snow in Anchorage could shut the airport. A novice pilot tests his nerve landing on a frozen lake. USAF aircrews battle the toughest Arctic survival training and a unique aircraft workshop Alaska-proofs a vintag.
NOAA Hurricane Hunters prepare to fly into the heart of a storm, harsh weather threatens vital combat training for U.S. Air Force pilots, and a vintage plane makes an extraordinary journey.
Travelers from Anchorage get stranded halfway to an island in the Bering Sea, extreme skaters fly into the wilderness in search of Wild Ice, and Alaska's premium cargo airline fights to deliver a team of huskies.
Alaska's aviators fly into the wild for the world's toughest snowmobile race, Anchorage mechanics wrestle with a damaged 737's jet engine, and scientists take to the air to fight back against floods devastating remote communities.
A bush plane resupply mission nearly ends in disaster, veterinarians brave winter storms to bring canine care to a remote village, and U.S. Air Force personnel train over the Alaskan tundra.
A 747 mayday triggers an emergency, a young Indigenous student pilot practices challenging landing techniques, and an extreme surfer flies high to find waves at America's coolest surf spot.
A bar owner takes flight on an Alaskan beer run, engineers work to clear a cargo plane of corrosion, a retired 727 finds a new home, and mechanics rid a bush plane's wing of a rat's nest.
An orphaned bear cub flies to a new home, bush pilots bring life-saving medical machinery to a remote village, record snowfall threatens to close down Anchorage Airport for Thanksgiving, and the US Army prepares for airborne war.
A breakdown on the Fairbanks runway threatens a heavy-weight military jet's urgent mission; a rookie flight instructor faces a make-or-break flight; an ice-tour pilot races against Alaskan weather; a bush airline flies a 400-mile pizza delivery.
A major snowstorm disrupts Christmas travel in Anchorage; bush pilots aid an Arctic village after a fire; ice jeopardizes an airborne science mission; Customs agents combat a surge in illegal holiday food imports.
A Coast Guard chopper pilot battles winds in a mission that will decide her flying career, a mountain construction project gets an express aerial delivery of materials in Alaska-style, and two bald eagles hitch a first-class rid.
A trainee chopper pilot tackles a mid-air engine shutdown. Bush pilots face a high-altitude test on an aerial grocery run. The US Army in Alaska launch their biggest helicopter deployment ever, and an Arctic-sports phenom flies.
Scientists fly to save Anchorage from avalanche destruction. Border agents stop a potential insect invasion at Anchorage International. A bush pilot flies explosive cargo for a village festival, and the Coast Guard race to repair a rescue helicopter.
A DC-6 flies into fuel-freezing weather to deliver vital medicine. A rookie Coast Guard rescue swimmer faces his final helicopter test. An engine fault could ruin the flightseeing season, and a blizzard threatens to close two international airports.
Two pilots try to build a new bush plane from 70-year-old designs. The Army gets its big guns airborne to protect America's north. Hurricane-force winds threaten Anchorage International, and NASA scientists blast off from Alaska's own Cape Canaveral.
A pilot races to fly food to a homesteader. Entrepreneurs reviving a 1940's airframe land on ice to prove it can be the future of bush flying. Trainee plane mechanics face a crucial test, and an airport night guardian calls time on a 30-year career.
The Coast Guard flies a twelve-ton fuel truck to keep a remote base operational. An athlete flies to a dangerous airport for a glacier race. Fairbanks crews fight an avian invasion, and after a decade in a museum, a Grumman Goose takes to the skies.
