The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport is seeking more than half a million dollars to recoup unexpected expenses the facility incurred from two separate aircraft incidents in 2022.

Airport Director Dan Bartholomew submitted a supplemental budget request, which the Pitkin County Board of Commissioners will review during its meeting today, seeking the $517,546 in unexpected expenditures from the two events — one in February and another in August. In his request, Bartholomew underscored that the county is “currently seeking reimbursement from the respective insurance carriers, or if necessary, directly from the aircraft owners” but maintained that in the interim, a financial stopgap is necessary to record the “current unpaid/unbudgeted expenses.”

In February, a Hawker 800XP business jet overran the runway during takeoff from Aspen, rupturing the aircraft’s fuel tanks and spilling nearly 1,200 gallons of jet fuel onto the surrounding soil on site. While nobody was injured, the plane was dubbed a total loss and could not be removed with its own power. In addition to thorough cleanup and contamination mitigation, a third-party contractor was required to remove the jet.

“A third-party crane and operator was contracted for removal of the aircraft from the runway safety area before the facility could re-open for operations,” Bartholomew wrote….