Reply #22: WPost on this

[RamboLiberal]

There were these huge (60 feet long by 10 feet wide) yellow X's on the main runway, which aren't there to mark the landing spot. The big signs were laid out to indicate that the runway was closed. There were workmen painting and doing general maintenance on the runway.

Inhofe, who was traveling with three others, told us Tuesday that he was "getting ready to land, then I saw a big X," and the workers and equipment. So he flew the six-seater over the workers and landed "well off to the side," he said.

Runway closures and other important information are highlighted in what's called a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, which all pilots are supposed to read before take-off. Inhofe said he "didn't have a NOTAM."

An airport official - "he hates me, I don't know why," Inhofe said - apparently was none too pleased with the use of a closed runway.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/26/AR2010102606944.html?hpid=moreheadlines