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Grumman Bethpage Airport

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Coordinates: 40°44′58″N 73°29′46″W / 40.749401°N 73.496002°W / 40.749401; -73.496002
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Grumman Bethpage Airport
Fighter planes being assembled at Grumman Bethpage Airport in 1940.
Summary
Airport typePrivate
Owner/OperatorGrumman Aerospace
LocationBethpage, New York, U.S.
Opened1936
Closed1990
Time zoneEST (UTC−05:00)
 • Summer (DST)EDT (UTC−04:00)
Elevation AMSL115 ft / 35 m
Coordinates40°44′58″N 73°29′46″W / 40.749401°N 73.496002°W / 40.749401; -73.496002
Map
Map

Grumman Bethpage Airport (IATA: BPA, ICAO: KBPA)[1][2] – also known as Grumman Airport, Bethpage Airport, and Grumman Field – was an airport located in Bethpage within the Town of Oyster Bay, in Nassau County, on Long Island, New York, United States.

The airport was also the former headquarters of Grumman Aerospace and was home to Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Bethpage.

History

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Grumman opened the 120-acre (49 ha) Grumman Bethpage Airport in 1936, after outgrowing its facilities at the nearby Republic Airport in East Farmingdale; the company also erected its corporate headquarters and aircraft manufacturing factories on the site.[3][4]

During World War II, the uptick in military aircraft manufacturing, testing, other operations saw a major uptick, leading to Grumman upgrading the facilities. The upgrades included improving the airport's runways; the engineering services for the runway improvements were carried out by an engineer from South Farmingdale, Henry Holzmacher.[5][6]

Over the course of its existence, Grumman used the airport and its facilities to manufacture and test a significant number of its airplanes and spacecraft, including many of its fighter jets as well as the Apollo Lunar Modules used for the Apollo moon landings.[3][7][8]

In 1975, Grumman proposed opening up BPA to general aviation traffic.[9][10][11] The proposal would have generated additional revenue for Grumman, and it would have enabled competition with Republic Airport in general aviation traffic.[9] Being surrounded by then by dense housing developments on all sides, the proposal was met with stiff opposition from both local residents and the Town of Oyster Bay. The plan was ultimately called off.[10][11]

By the late 1980s, near the end of the Cold War, operations at the airport had decreased. A major blow to the airport came in 1989, when the George W. Bush Administration cancelled the federal contract for the manufacturing of F-14D fighter jets, which some economists claim quickened the demise of the airport.[12]

Closure and subsequent history

[edit]
Part of the redeveloped Grumman facility in 2010, showing a plaza with a Grumman fighter jet on display.

In 1990, the airport was closed.[3][12] Following its closure, it was redeveloped, with large portions becoming the Bethpage Business Park.[3][8][13] The facility at the site formerly used to manufacture the Apollo Lunar Modules was subsequently repurposed and now serves as a facility for Grumman Studios.[3][8][13] The building which formerly housed the headquarters of Grumman subsequently became Cablevision's headquarters.[14]

Manufacturing operations continued at the site until 1996 – two years after Grumman and Northrop merged to form Northrop Grumman.[15][16] As of 2024, Northrop Grumman continues to have some offices on the site of the former airport.[15][17]

A portion of the airport property was also redeveloped into Grumman Field.[8]

Toxic plume cleanup

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The former Grumman property is the source of a large toxic plume which has impacted the groundwater around the facility.[15][18] The contamination and subsequent discoveries have led to scandals involving state & federal government agencies, the United States Navy, and Grumman – and caused the site to be designated as a Superfund site.[15][18] Cleanup of the contamination is ongoing as of 2024, and many barrels of toxic waste have been uncovered throughout the area over the years.[15][19][20][21]

Accidents and incidents

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On August 16, 2015, a Hawker Beechcraft BE35, en route from Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York to Morristown Municipal Airport in Whippany, New Jersey, crashed in Hicksville, New York after experiencing an engine failure and being guided to Grumman Bethpage Airport (which by had been redeveloped prior to the accident).[22][23][24] The pilot of the plane was attempting to make an emergency landing at Republic Airport after being advised of nearby airports, but was later advised by an air traffic controller that the closest field was Grumman Bethpage.[25][26] The pilot then attempted to divert instead to the nonexistent runway at Grumman Field, and subsequently crashed at the South Oyster Bay Road railroad crossing.[25] The crash killed the pilot, injured the passenger, and caused service disruptions on the Long Island Rail Road.[22][23][24]

Nassau County Police Heliport

[edit]

The Nassau County Police Heliport (FAA ID: 8NY9) is a publicly owned police heliport, located in Bethpage, New York.

The heliport was activated in November 1941 and is used by the Nassau County Police Department as a base for some of its police helicopter operations.[27] It is located on the north side of the former Grumman Bethpage Airport.[27] The facility has one helipad – Helipad H1; the helipad has an asphalt surface and is 50 by 50 feet (15 m × 15 m) in size.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Three Letter IATA Airport Codes - B - Airport Travel Guide". travelnotes.org. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  2. ^ "Grumman (BPA) - Airport details :: My Sky Map". www.myskymap.com. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Stoff, Joshua (2004). Long Island Airports. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738536768.
  4. ^ "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: New York, Nassau County". www.airfields-freeman.com. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  5. ^ "Henry G. Holzmacher". The New York Times. March 10, 1961. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "History Timeline". H2M architects + engineers. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "Airport Controversy". The Bethpage Tribune. October 9, 1975. p. 7. Retrieved June 24, 2024 – via nyshistoricnewspapers.org.
  8. ^ a b c d Stark, Ian J. (March 29, 2018). "Grumman Studios: Secrets and fun facts". Newsday. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Using Grumman's Airport". Newsday. April 16, 1975. p. 44 – via ProQuest.
  10. ^ a b "200 Protest Grumman Airport Plan". Newsday. May 28, 1975. p. 39 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ a b Galant, Richard (September 9, 1975). "Grumman Airport Is Zoning Target". Newsday. p. 19 – via ProQuest.
  12. ^ a b Bernstein, James (April 27, 1989). "Grumman's LI Future Without F-14 Up in Air". Newsday. p. 7 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ a b Fisher, Charles; Fisher, Randy (September 19, 2013). "Nassau Ce Mangano Makes Dream Of "Hollywood East" A Reality". TheSource. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
  14. ^ Shaman, Diana (December 28, 1997). "Commercial Property/Selling Off Northrop Grumman's Surplus; Cablevision Takes Last of the Grumman Buildings". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d e "A look back at Grumman contamination on Long Island". Newsday. February 2, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  16. ^ Ain, Stewart (March 17, 1996). "Grumman's Exit Is a Blow to Bethpage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "Northrop Grumman in Bethpage, New York". Northrop Grumman. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  18. ^ a b LaRocco, Paul; Schwartz, David M. (February 18, 2020). "The Growth of the Plume - Part 1 - 1947-75: An unrevealed history". Newsday. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  19. ^ Lans, Chanteé (April 3, 2024). "Long Island community concerned after large chemical drums found at Bethpage Community Park". ABC7 New York. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  20. ^ Cheng, Pei-Sze; Cergol, Greg (May 15, 2024). "More chemical drums turn up encased in concrete under Long Island park". NBC New York. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  21. ^ Yonkunas, Rache (April 18, 2024). "2016 whistleblower tip warned of barrels buried at old Grumman property in Bethpage". News 12 - Long Island. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Pilot in Fatal Long Island Crash Was Directed to Nonexistent Runway, Report Says". The New York Times. The Associated Press. August 25, 2015. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Rojas, Rick (August 16, 2015). "One Dead in Crash of Small Plane on Long Island". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Eltman, Frank (April 12, 2017). "Crash That Sent Pilot to Shuttered Long Island Runway Prompts FAA Changes". NBC New York. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Pilot who died in New York crash sent by air traffic control to closed airport". CBS News. August 24, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  26. ^ Perez, Chris (August 25, 2015). "Pilot fatally crashed after being told to land on strip that no longer exists". New York Post. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  27. ^ a b c "AirNav: 8NY9 - Nassau County Police Heliport". www.airnav.com. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
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