LONDON, Ky. — London-Corbin Airport provides aircraft emergency medical services for Laurel County, but it was destroyed after Friday’s intense storms. 

Two medical choppers and chopper facility were destroyed, along with several private aircraft. Staff at the airport said they’ve been receiving medical aircraft help from neighboring counties to assist survivors recovering from the storm.

Dan Bayer is the base mechanic at London-Corbin Airport and said his desk is now somewhere in the rubble.

“Oh yeah, it’s in one of these piles here. We’re looking through stuff and kind of seeing what we recognize. Some of the stuff is irreplaceable, some of the stuff is really, really expensive to be replaced.”

The London-Corbin Airport serves private, corporate and military air traffic, but it wasn't immune from the Friday, May 16 storms. (Spectrum News 1/Destinee Flowers)

Bayer said this is devastating for him and his team.

According to Bayer, “It’s a tragedy for us because this was like our livelihood. This is where we worked. Put a lot of effort into this place, but people's personal losses, the loss of life, that’s definitely always in perspective.”

Matt Singer is the airport manager and said losing the helicopters affected their ability to respond to county residents in need.

Singer said, “Those three helicopters cover a whole lot of the region and so, it’s not so much how it affects us, it’s how it affects the area. Especially in a mass casualty like we had. They can’t get out, they can’t go anywhere.”

Singer said neighboring counties have provided their emergency aircraft to help.

“I know that PHI from Summerset came over. Air Evac out of Corbin came over,” said Singer. 

The London-Corbin Airport serves private, corporate and military air traffic. You can also see it houses older military aircraft. The airport sustained heavy damage in the storms Friday, May 16, 2025.

The T-34 Association is a group of warbird owners that lost a few of their aircraft being kept at London-Corbin airport. The group was in London for a three-day event which was supposed to start Friday and run through the weekend. The T-34s not damaged by the storms flew over Laurel County to honor the lives that were lost.

Singer added, “They really love it here. I think they feel like this is like a second home for the association so, they’re kind of hurting too over more than just losing their airplanes.”

London-Corbin Air believes it could take several years for the airport to resume full functionality.