An outdated piece of firefighting equipment is limiting the number of charter companies that will use the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport, but the overall impact is expected to be minimal.

The kind of firefighting equipment available to an airport helps determine its “index” classification, which in turn factors into determining the maximum size of aircraft that can use the facility. The Bowling Green airport has the lowest classification – Index A.

But a specialized vehicle at the Bowling Green Fire Department’s airport fire station, Station 2, has allowed for larger Index B flights, such as the charter airplanes that carry football teams visiting Bowling Green to play at Western Kentucky University, to use the airport.

Until now.

When the truck, which dates to 1983, was recently tested, it was found that the pump was not working, and the truck has been having transmission issues.

“It has surpassed the end of its life,” BGFD Deputy Chief Rob Gilliam said.

Airport and fire department officials looked at different options for repairs, but the price was cost-prohibitive.

To repair the current vehicle was estimated to be at least $35,000, “and that’s just the stuff we know about,” Gilliam said. “At some point, you have to determine if investing in (repairs) is worth it.”

He said some of the replacement parts for the nearly 40-year-old truck aren’t being made anymore.

A new replacement vehicle could cost around $500,000.

Airport Manager Susan Harmon said the airport only sees “a handful of flights per year” that fall under the Index B classification.

Most are the large charter planes used by college football teams, and Harmon said she has been working with WKU on the issue.

She said that it is up to charter companies to determine if they will use an airport with a lower index: Some will and some won’t, she said.

“They still have two or three options,” Harmon said of the charter companies that use the larger planes.

She said the loss of the fire vehicle will have no impact on the vast majority of flights at the airport.

The fire department maintains a 2009 vehicle at the airport station that meets the Index A requirements.

While the notification of the loss of the equipment for Index B flights has gone out, Harmon said the airport has applied for some grants that could pay for the needed replacement equipment.

– Follow News Director Wes Swietek on Twitter @BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.