- Port Heiden Airport
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Port Heiden Airport 
IATA: PTH – ICAO: PAPH – FAA LID: PTH Summary Airport type Public Owner State of Alaska DOT&PF - Central Region Serves Port Heiden, Alaska Elevation AMSL 95 ft / 29 m Coordinates 56°57′33″N 158°38′00″W / 56.95917°N 158.6333333°W Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 5/23 5,000 1,524 Gravel 13/31 4,000 1,219 Gravel Statistics Aircraft operations (2006) 1,000 Enplanements (2008) 919 Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1][2] 
Port Heiden AirportLocation of Port Heiden Airport, AlaskaPort Heiden Airport (IATA: PTH, ICAO: PAPH, FAA LID: PTH) is a state-owned, public-use airport located six nautical miles (11 km) northeast of the central business district of Port Heiden, in the Lake and Peninsula Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska.[1] Scheduled airline service to King Salmon Airport is provided by Peninsula Airways (PenAir).[3]
As per Federal Aviation Administration records, this airport had 919 commercial passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, a decrease of 9.6% from the 1,017 enplanements in 2007.[2] Port Heiden is included in the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (2009–2013), which categorizes it as a general aviation facility.[4]
Contents
Airlines and destinations
Facilities and aircraft
Port Heiden Airport has two runways with gravel surfaces: 5/23 is 5,000 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m) and 13/31 is 4,000 by 100 feet (1,219 x 30 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 1,000 aircraft operations, an average of 83 per month: 50% air taxi and 50% general aviation.[1]
History
The airport was built in 1942 after the World War II Japanese attack on the Aleutian Islands. On 17 June 1942 the United States Army established a garrison of 1,400 officers and enlisted men at Port Heiden on the north side of the Alaska Peninsula, with the mission of developing and holding an air base intermediate between the Kodiak and Cold Bay fields, this new garrison becoming the Army's Fort Morrow Army Airfield. The airfield did not have any permanent assigned units during the war, but hosted numerous temporary assigned USAAF and Naval Air units during the Aleutian Campaign and aided in the defense of Kodiak Island.
Beginning in 1958 the airport was used to support Port Heiden Air Force Station, a Cold War United States Air Force Distant Early Warning Line radar station. The station was operated by Detachment 5, 714th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron based at Cold Bay Air Force Station, near Cold Bay, Alaska. The radar station was inactivated in September 1969, ending military use of the airport.
The Air Force remediated the radar site around 2000, removing all abandoned military structures and returning the site to a natural condition.
Incidents and accidents
On 30 April 2008, a Cessna Citation Excel business jet veered off the gravel runway 23 upon landing in a crosswind. The plane sustained substantial damage, thought there were no injuries among the six occupants.[5]
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.- ^ a b c FAA Airport Master Record for PTH (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 27 August 2009.
- ^ a b CY 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data (Preliminary). Federal Aviation Administration. Published 15 July 2009.
- ^ a b 2009 Timetables. Peninsula Airways. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ^ FAA National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems: 2009-2013. Federal Aviation Administration. Published 1 October 2008.
- ^ Excel veered off gravel runway by Mary F. Silitch. AINonline. 1 February 2009. Retrieved on 22 August 2010.
External links
- FAA Alaska airport diagram (GIF)
- FAA Terminal Procedures for PTH, effective 20 October 2011
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for PAPH
- ASN accident history for PTH
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker for PAPH
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations for PAPH
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for PTH
USAAF Eleventh Air Force in World War IIPreviously: Alaskan Air Force (1941-1942)Airfields Adak · Alexai Point · Amchitka · Attu · Elmendorf · Fort Glenn · Fort Randall · Gakona · Galena · Gambell · Kiska · Ladd · Mile 26 · Marks · Ogliuga Island · Juneau · Fort Morrow · Shemya · Yakutat
Units Commands XI Bomber · XI FighterGroups Bombardment 28th BombardmentFighter Categories:- Airports in Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska
- USAAF Air Transport Command Airfields - Alaska
- Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Alaska
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