News File Photo A SkyWest jet is parked near the passenger terminal in Alpena in January 2024.

ALPENA — At times, helicopters and passenger planes share the facilities, landing areas, and airspace at the Alpena County Regional Airport and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

However, Airport Manager Steve Smigeski said helicopter activity in Alpena is much less than near the Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., making a collision between a plane and a helicopter very unlikely.

On Jan. 29, a military helicopter and a small regional passenger jet collided as the plane was landing, killing all of the 67 people on the two aircrafts.

Smigelski said private and military helicopters do intermingle in the sky above the airport and Northeast Michigan, but helicopter traffic is limited. He said when there are choppers in the air, individual air traffic controllers in the tower track both helicopters and planes individually. Smigelski said since the crash, he hasn’t heard of anyone who has any concerns about the safety of the airport, base, or commercial air service provider SkyWest.

“It was a sad and unfortunate situation for sure,” he said. “We do have helicopters in and out but our tower always tracks each separately.”

That was not the case when the helicopter and plane collided in D.C. The Federal Aviation Administration has said the flight tower was understaffed for the time of day when the crash happened. Also, one employee was monitoring both planes and helicopters, a report from the FAA says.

Smigelski said he hasn’t noticed any dip in the number of people utilizing SkyWest Airlines or the airport since the tragic crash. He said enplanement numbers, before the crash and afterward, have been strong. Smigelski said for the month of January, there were 698 paying passengers, which surpassed the January 2024 total of 579.

He said in January of last year, the airport had to close several times and flights were canceled because of poor weather, but so far this winter, weather hasn’t been a hindrance for air travel from Alpena.

“We have been out in front of any weather issues that we have had, but there have been some issues this week,” he said. “We had a couple of flights delayed, but no cancellations, but we haven’t had to close the airport at all.”

Smigelski said the airport ended last year with a total of 11,150 enplanements, which easily exceeded the 10,000 enplanement mark needed to earn a $1 million Essential Air Service subsidy from the federal government. The money can be used to make improvements at the airport and purchase needed equipment. He said the FAA issued the airport its notice to proceed with the purchase of two new snow plows that will help maintain the runways and taxiways during the winter.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.