LONDON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The London-Corbin Airport took a direct hit in 2025 when a deadly tornado tore through multiple counties. One year later, Air Evac Lifeteam is rebuilding — and the people who depend on them never stopped being served.
"It just looked like a warzone. I know people use that as a description of disaster but it really looked like a war zone," Air Evac Program Manager Letch Day said.
When daylight revealed the damage the following day, it was grim. Hangars were flattened and helicopters were tossed like toys. In nearly four decades of emergency response, Day had never seen anything like it.
"We lost the hangar, the aircraft, the building, we lost material things, but we didn't lose any lives that night so we were fortunate to take a direct hit and not have any casualties on our own side," Day said.
Inside the building, two pilots, a nurse, and a paramedic sheltered in a laundry room — the only room left untouched.
"In our quarters here, there was actually a piece of asphalt shingle sticking in the side of 18 gauge metal that pierced it. So it was unbelievable. The eye bolts that held this hangar down were twisted off like a piece of straw," Day said.
Just down the runway, another air medical team lost its helicopter, and private planes lined up in storage were wiped out.
But Day said there was no time to dwell on the loss. In the hours and days that followed, the mission became more urgent than ever — tornado victims needed to be transferred to level-one trauma centers.
"The one thing that I did notice, we continued continuity of care for our patients and our community. We have a base that sits to the south in Corbin and to the east in Manchester, so there was no disruption of service in our community," Day said.
Today, one year later, Air Evac Lifeteam has a new base, a new helicopter, and plans to break ground on a new hangar any day now.
"Whenever it first happened the first week, you started seeing stickers saying 'Laurel County Strong' and that's what we are," Day said.
