Elkhart airport undergoes tree removal for FAA compliance

The Elkhart Municipal Airport is getting a face lift of sorts now that Crossing Education Center Tree Team is removing almost 200 trees from the premises.

Students and staff of Crossing partnered with the City of Elkhart to cut down over 100 trees and about 90 tree stumps near runway 36. Elkhart contracted the Crossing team to complete the project in order to comply with new standards from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"Well, we got a call from the airport about a month ago and said hey the FAA is shutting down some of the directional lighting systems to one of our runways because of interference from trees and such. Would you guys come out and look at the trees and let us know that's a job you guys can tackle and we said absolutely," said Matt Hogarth, principal of Crossing Educational Center.

The Crossing team operates as a tree removal service run by staff and students from surrounding St. Joseph counties. Part of its job training program includes training Tree Team members for project such as this one.

The project has been underway for nearly three weeks and those working on it say it will be completed soon.

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Elkhart airport undergoes tree removal for FAA compliance