Stuttgart welcomes new flock of jets

Link to video: http://www.thv11.com/news/article/296440/2/Stuttgart-welcomes-new-flock-of-jets

STUTTGART, Ark. (KTHV) - A new flock takes to the skies of Stuttgart and we're not talking ducks. With thunderous engines and massive wing spans, a number of large commercial jets continue to fly into Stuttgart.

"You don't see anything like that at a small airport like this," said Clay Siemons of Stuttgart. With a population drifting around 9,000 Stuttgart residents rarely see commercial jets land in their back yard.

"We came out of the office and started watching and was able to see it come in - it was kind of a neat situation," said Siemons.

Siemons took in the flare landing of a Boeing 747. What would normally be an odd occurrence has actually happened eight times in the last three years.

"So what we do is harvest all of the parts off of the aircraft," said Bryan Hancock, Partner with CAVU Aerospace.

The Stuttgart company buys planes at the end of their flying life and recycles the parts to sell them back to manufacturers.

"They all have to go back through stringent testing and be re-certified before being put back on an aircraft," said Hancock.

Hancock says the company employs about 20 people. His partner, Shawn Vaughn, says the company works on smaller jets all the way up to the largest.

"We're about two days left on this tear down. The gear remains and their finishing pulling some pneumatics off the front of the wings," said Vaughn.

It takes about two months to harvest the parts off a massive jet like a 747. And once complete, the entire jet goes to the crush pad.

"They actually crush it and haul it off in trucks and it goes to the smelter and gets recycled or all the aluminum gets recycled," said Hancock.

Stuttgart locals welcome the accelerated business.

"It's nice to know that we are able to get new businesses, new people," said Siemons.

Although Stuttgart was made famous with duck flocks filling the skies it seems there's plenty of airspace for a new bird in town.