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Cyril E. King Airport

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Cyril E. King Airport
FAA airport diagram
Cyril E. King Airport Terminal.
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerVirgin Islands Port Authority
LocationSaint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Elevation AMSL23 ft / 7 m
Map
STT is located in the U.S. Virgin Islands
STT
STT
Location in the Virgin Islands
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
10/28 7,000 2,134 Asphalt
Statistics (2014)
Aircraft operations64,945
Based aircraft84
The Cyril E. King Airport from an observation overlook

Cyril E. King Airport (IATA: STT, ICAO: TIST, FAA LID: STT) is a public airport located two miles (3 km) west of the central business district of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands.[1] It is currently the busiest airport in the United States Virgin Islands, and one of the busiest in the eastern Caribbean, servicing 1,215,000 passengers from March 2011 until February 2012. The airport also serves nearby St. John and is often used by those traveling to the British Virgin Islands.

It was known as Harry S Truman Airport until 1984, when it was renamed to honor Cyril Emmanuel King, the second elected governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. A new airport opened in November 1990 and retained the name.

The airport operates one main runway, 7,000 ft × 150 ft (2,134 m × 46 m) long. The terminal operates 11 gates.

History

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force 23rd Fighter Squadron (36th Fighter Group) deployed P-40 Warhawk fighters to the airport from March 1942 – May 1943.[2]

Facilities and Aircraft

Cyril E. King Airport covers an area of 280 acres (110 ha) which contains one asphalt paved runway (10/28) measuring 7,000 ft × 150 ft (2,134 m × 46 m). For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2014, the airport had 64,945 aircraft operations, an average of 177 per day: 50% air taxi, 12% scheduled commercial, 36% general aviation and 2% military. During the same period, there were 98 aircraft based at this airport: 59% multi-engine, 35% single engine, 3% helicopters, 2% jet engine and 1% ultralight.[1] There is also flight school at the airport, Ace Flight Center.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Sunshine Anguilla, Dominica-Melville Hall, Nevis, San Juan, Sint Maarten, Tortola, Virgin Gorda
American Airlines Miami, New York-JFK
Cape Air Saint Croix, San Juan, Tortola[3]
Delta Air Lines Atlanta
Seasonal: New York-JFK
Hummingbird Air Anguilla, Dominica-Canefield, Saint Kitts, Sint Maarten
JetBlue Airways San Juan
Seasonal: Boston
LIAT Antigua
Seaborne Airlines Saint Croix, San Juan
Sea Flight Airlines Saint Croix
Spirit Airlines Fort Lauderdale
Sun Country Airlines Seasonal: Minneapolis/Saint Paul
Tradewind Aviation Saint Barthélemy
United Airlines Washington-Dulles
Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare, Newark
US Airways Charlotte
Seasonal: Philadelphia

Charter Airlines

| Air Sunshine | Anguilla, Dominica-Melville Hall, Nevis, San Juan, Sint Maarten, Tortola, Virgin Gorda,Antigua, St. Lucia,St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad,Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados and many other destinations

Cargo Airlines

AirlinesDestinations
Air SunshineSaint Maarten, San Juan, Anguilla, Nevis, Tortola, Virgin Gorda
Ameriflight (for UPS and DHL) San Juan
Mountain Air Cargo (for FedEx) San Juan
Air Cargo Carriers (for UPS and DHL) San Juan
IBC Airways Saint Croix, San Juan
Skyway Enterprises(Flying for FedEx) San Juan

Historical Airline Service

Historically, the largest aircraft type to serve St. Thomas with scheduled passenger flights was the Airbus A300-600R wide body jetliner operated by American Airlines and PanAm, but using a different variant with PanAm offering service to St. Croix with continuing service to Miami and sometimes San Juan,[4] American also offered services to New York-JFK using the Airbus A300-600R [5] as well as San Juan continuing to Orlando. American Airlines also offered night service to St. Thomas from Boston via San Juan, also using the Airbus A300-600R. Other airlines that operated jet service into the airport in the past included Air Florida with Douglas DC-9-10s,[6] New York Air with Boeing 737-300s,[7], Caribair with McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s,[8] Eastern Airlines with Boeing 727-100s, 727-200s and 757-200s, Midway Airlines with Boeing 737-200s, and for a short time after the current airport was built, the MD-87. Pan Am with Boeing 727-200s as well as the A300B4s [9] and Trans Caribbean Airways with Boeing 727-200s.[10] The airport was served briefly by Private Jet Expeditions using MD-80s. The largest aircraft to offer charter jet service was the DC-10 flown by Iberia Airlines in January 1995 and another charter DC-10 in November 1999 by a different European airline.

Before Seaborne Airlines, the largest airline to offer services to San Juan, and for a long time, to Saint Croix was Executive Airlines flying for American Eagle flying ATR-42s, ATR-72s, Shorts 360s, and CASA 212s.

Incidents

  • On December 28, 1970, Trans Caribbean Airways Flight 505 operated with a Boeing 727 jetliner made a hard landing and ran off the side of the runway. Two of the 48 passengers died in the subsequent fire and the aircraft was then destroyed by the ensuing conflagration.[11]
  • On April 27, 1976, American Airlines Flight 625 operated with a Boeing 727 jetliner ran off the end of the runway, killing 37 of the 88 on board the aircraft. Following the crash, American Airlines (AA) suspended jet service to the airport, using Convair 440 propliners instead for service to nearby St. Croix (STX) and San Juan (SJU) for connections to American mainline jet flights at these airports until the St. Thomas runway was extended to its present length. These CV-440 flights were flown by a division of AA, American Inter-Island, as an interim service until American decided to resume mainline jet aircraft operations into St. Thomas with the advent of the longer runway.[12]
  • On March 25, 1977, Douglas C-53 N692A of Island Traders was damaged beyond economic repair in a heavy landing.[13]
  • On September 17, 1989, Douglas DC-3 N4425N, Douglas C-47s N100SD, N4471J and N4577Z; and Douglas C-49J N28346 of Aero Virgin Islands; along with Douglas C-47A N101AP of Four Star Air Cargo; were damaged beyond economic repair by Hurricane Hugo.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
  • On December 30, 2003, Douglas DC-3C N781T of Tol-Air Services was substantially damaged when the starboard undercarriage collapsed on landing after a flight that originated at San Juan, Puerto Rico.[20]
  • On July 19, 2006, Douglas DC-3C N782T of Tol-Air Services ditched into the sea off Charlotte Amalie after an engine failure shortly after take-off from Cyril E. King Airport.[21] All four people on board escaped as the aircraft floated for about ten minutes before sinking.[22] The aircraft now lies in 100 feet (30 m) of water and is a dive site.[23]
  • On October 13, 2012, a Piper Aztec, N5553Y, departing nearby St. Croix carrying three passengers crashed approximately eight miles south of Cyril E. King Airport. There was one survivor. After a year-long investigation, it was determined that the pilot suffered spatial disorientation, descended before he needed to and then crashed into the water.

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^ a b c FAA Airport Form 5010 for STT PDF, retrieved November 27, 2008
  2. ^ http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/buildbaseswwii/bbwwii2.htm
  3. ^ http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/8/prweb11043622.htm
  4. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, April 2, 1995 Official Airline Guide (OAG), St. Thomas to Miami schedules
  5. ^ http://www.airliners.net/photo/US-Airways/Boeing-757-225/0476431/&sid=82b2675ebb4ef2f35830f8cb7d3397b8
  6. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 15, 1979 Official Airline Guide (OAG)
  7. ^ https://www.flickr.com/photos/baettig/6989859909/in/photolist-bDERQ2-oXn7eY-boeS8g-boeRTn-4wTftG-iKzJm9-9XxSV5-8sLUrP-5hGMJU-5hGLCy-oX8oUi-oEUCeo-oX8rbH-oXoXmg-oVmZJj-bPmoQR-8n2iEQ-5hGNWh-egMF8g-aFzCvP-5P4XeZ-5vf6Sk-4ZFgek-dL13Rg-8vpKjd-5P5bMx-4ugjVg-d2atVQ-bqKX5U-bDESKr-bDESzK-bqKWHm-bqKWAy-bqKWmE-bqKWfL-bqKVY7-bqKVRN-66h1aN-66cKja-66gXTw-66gXMq-66gVPL-4BFZya-aVpB2M-awW453-8TDZqg-7DF2vJ-qcL6Gx-pxbHoA-qcL6hK
  8. ^ http://www.airchives.com, Caribair system timetables
  9. ^ http://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/1526705/Pan-Am/Airbus/A300/N202PA/
  10. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Official Airline Guides (OAGs) dated Nov. 15, 1979 and July 1, 1983
  11. ^ http://www.airliners.net, photos of destroyed Trans Caribbean Airways Boeing 727-200 at St. Thomas
  12. ^ http://www.airliners.net, photos of American Inter-Island Convair 440 aircraft at St. Thomas operating local flights to STX and SJU.
  13. ^ "N692A Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  14. ^ "N4425N Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  15. ^ "N100SD Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  16. ^ "N4471J Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  17. ^ "N4577Z Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  18. ^ "N28346 Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  19. ^ "N101AP Hull-loss description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  20. ^ "N781T Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved June 21, 2001.
  21. ^ "N782T Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
  22. ^ "MIA06LA125". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
  23. ^ "Jul 2006 Gooney bird becomes latest dive site". Blue Island Divers. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
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