Airport board OKs purchase of amphibious vehicle for large-scale wetlands and water emergencies
- Mark Sabbatini
- Oct 10
- 3 min read
Marsh Master, bought with $300K federal grant and $20K in local funds, will be first of its kind at a US airport with FAA approval, manager says; Assembly OK still needed
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
An amphibious vehicle capable of a large-scale wetlands rescue — and running over a person’s foot without causing pain — got a unanimous purchase approval by Juneau International Airport’s board of directors on Thursday evening.
The Marsh Master MM-2MX, which would paid for with a $300,200 federal grant and $20,000 in local funds, is "essentially a tracked, all-aluminum vehicle capable of wetland rescue for large or mass casualty events," Airport Manager Andres Delgado told the board. "It is quite a large piece of equipment that will be capable, I think, of up to 20 people with the skid attachment that comes with it. This is a very unique piece of equipment, and I believe we will be the only airport in the U.S, or the first in the U.S., to have it approved by the FAA."
Delgado, in an interview Friday, said the Juneau Assembly still needs to approve the purchase, but the airport could have the vehicle by next March if the process goes smoothly. He said officials at the city-owned airport have been working on acquiring such a vehicle for the past 18 months due to the Federal Aviation Administration asking about the facilities' water and wetlands rescue plans.
"If an aircraft did crash out in the wetlands we'd have, up until we get that Marsh Master, no way of really effectively rescuing people out there," he said.
The airport used to have an older model Swedish Hägglund, but "it was way too slow and parts for that were discontinued, and it was generally difficult to maintain," Delgado said.
The Marsh Master was selected from about 15 to 20 vehicles considered because, among other factors, it’s manufactured in Louisiana and therefore meets FAA’s Buy American Preferences, he said. Initially the airport was considering an amphibious vehicle used at some other Alaska airports that has large wheels instead of tank-like tracks, but that company recently began using parts from the United Kingdom and therefore wasn’t eligible.
"It's a little different when we're operating a tracked vehicle versus a wheeled vehicle, but the capabilities are essentially the same," he said. "They still go in the water, they still float, they can go on ice and they can go in pretty gnarly terrain that would easily get other vehicles stuck."
The Marsh Master is built by Coast Machinery LLC, whose website calls the MM-2MX "a multi-purpose machine to do many different jobs." Delgado said "it's first and foremost the mass casualty rescue vehicle for the Juneau airport, but it can also be used as a search-and-rescue vehicle in the state wetlands as well."
"It's large enough, it's tall enough, it floats and it doesn't damage the wetlands either because it only has a footprint PSI of, I think, one-and-a-half pounds," he said. "So you could essentially let it run over your foot and it wouldn’t hurt."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
