Flooding in Southern California Wednesday closed Corona airport, the west coast hub of nearby aircraft parts supplier Aircraft Spruce & Specialty, and immediately affected roughly half of the 393 aircraft based on the field. By Wednesday afternoon, water on the airport was waist-deep near the west end and airport businesses and officials were busy moving all partially submerged and threatened aircraft to higher ground. Responding to calls from AVweb Friday, Aircraft Spruce said its operations were unaffected. They were, of course, turning away all fly-in business. Calls to Corona’s airport manager were directed to an emergency line with a recorded message. As of Wednesday at 2:25 pm the message stated that the airport was closed until further notice due to water on the runway. Rain was expected to end, Wednesday, but there was still another threat.
Prado Dam is an earthen structure built in 1941 and it sits a few miles west of Corona Municipal Airport. Safe levels there are considered to be below 500 feet and water levels were reported at nearly 525 feet behind the dam Wednesday. Some 200 aircraft of the nearly 400 that call Corona home were immediately affected by rising waters Wednesday. Pilots seeking the most current information about conditions at Corona should call 951-279-3557. That hotline will be updated with airport and runway status as conditions change.
