MILLS RIVER – The roar of jumbo jets taking off and landing at the Asheville Regional Airport now and then drowned out remarks on an overcast morning Aug. 7 at the runway-side ribbon cutting for the new Federal Aviation Administration control tower.
“Can you get on a plane with those?” someone yelled from the crowd as FAA Regional Administrator Jeffrey Vincent wielded a nearly 3-foot pair of golden scissors Aug. 7.
The old tower, built along with the rest of the original Asheville airport in 1961, was one of the oldest still operating in the U.S., Vincent said…