Letter to the Editor

Massport says thank you for helping in ice rescue

To the East Boston and Winthrop communities:

On behalf of the leadership and staff of the Massachusetts Port Authority, we wish to thank the  East Boston and Winthrop communities for helping us to conduct a successful and timely ice rescue training drill at Logan Airport on March 6. This morning-long public safety training exercise off Runway 22R across from Orient Heights Yacht Club involved an extraordinary collaboration of 15 federal, state, and municipal agencies, more than 30 emergency vehicles, and 130 emergency personnel. These included the FAA, FBI, MA State Police, Boston Police, Fire and EMS, Cambridge Fire Department, Massport Fire-Rescue, Boston Medical Center, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Winthrop Harbormaster. The drill was in the planning stages for several weeks, but it was particularly timely because it occurred the day after a commercial airline incident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Even though the number of flights at Logan is down considerably from the later 1990s, the airport served 31 million passengers last year. The opportunity to prepare and execute these trainings with our first responder community is critical to our ability to keep Logan Airport safe. We are extremely grateful to all of our public safety partners and neighbors.

Thomas P. Glynn,

Chief Executive Officer,

Massport

José Massó III,

Community Relations Dir.,

 Massport