Greater Binghamton Airport
Encyclopedia
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located in Maine, New York
Maine, New York
Maine is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 5,459 at the 2000 census.The Town of Maine is on the western border of the county and is northwest of Binghamton.Maine is home to the Greater Binghamton Airport...
that serves the Southern Tier
Southern Tier
The Southern Tier is a geographical term that refers to the counties of New York State west of the Catskill Mountains along the northern border of Pennsylvania. It is a loosely defined term that generally includes the counties that border Pennsylvania west of Delaware County inclusive...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, primarily Broome
Broome County, New York
Broome County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 200,600. It was named in honor of John Broome, who was lieutenant governor in 1806 when Broome County was established. Its county seat is Binghamton, which is also its major city. The current...
and Tioga
Tioga County, New York
As of the census of 2010, there were 51,125 people residing in the county, with 22,203 housing units, of these 20,350 occupied, 1,853 vacant. The population density was 98 people per square mile...
counties.
The airport was originally named Broome County Airport and that name remained through the 1970s. It was later renamed to honor the inventor of the aircraft instrument simulator, the Link Trainer, as Edwin A. Link Field-Broome County Airport, a name it kept until the 1990s when it was again renamed to the Binghamton Regional Airport. The name Greater Binghamton Airport was chosen in 2003 to match the area's new marketing campaign under a unified name. The field on which the airport lies is still named in Link's honor.
History
Up until World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Tri-Cities Airport
Tri-Cities Airport (New York)
Tri-Cities Airport is a village-owned, public-use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Endicott, a village in Broome County, New York, United States. According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013, it is classified as...
in Endicott, New York
Endicott, New York
Endicott is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,038 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Henry B...
had served as the primary airport of the Binghamton, New York
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
region. Plane size increases and the demand for night-time flying caused this airport to become inadequate for the area's needs. Construction of a new airport on Mount Ettrick in Maine, New York began in 1945, and concluded in 1951 when the airport was opened.
The main runway which is oriented north northwest-south southeast was 5,600 feet in length initially, but was later extended by about 700 feet to the south to 6,298 feet in 1969. Starting in about 1988 the main runway was extended again, this time on the north end, to 7,500 feet (2,286 m) and was commissioned for use in late October 1990. The crosswind east-west runway is 5002 feet long.
During the 1980s, the airport was a hub for the commuter airline Brockway Air
Brockway Air
Brockway Air was a regional airline, which was formerly known as Air North and originally as Northern Airways.Headquartered in Burlington, VT the airline began operating in the late 1960s under a marketing relationship with Mohawk Airlines, replacing or supplementing Mohawk's service at small...
, which operated a fleet of Fokker F-27 and Beechcraft 1900
Beechcraft 1900
The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop airplane manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company . It was designed, and is primarily used, as a regional airliner...
tuboprop aircraft. The airline ran flights to regional destinations like Rochester and Buffalo, and to business centers such as New York and Boston. Brockway Air later became a Piedmont Airlines
Piedmont Airlines
Piedmont Airlines is an American regional airline operating for US Airways Express. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the US Airways Group, headquartered in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury, it conducts flight operations using De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft...
affiliate carrier, and later a TWA
Twa
The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....
affiliate carrier.
In recent years, the main runway was shortened to 7,100 feet to add engineered materials arrestor beds to both ends of the runway. The arrestor beds - better known as Engineered Material Arresting Systems, or EMAS - are a crushable concrete surface that slows an aircraft in the event of an overrun. Given that the airport was built on a mountaintop, the terrain drops off abruptly shortly after the runway ends, prompting the need for the EMAS beds. Fifty years after its opening, the airport finally received a major renovation in 2001. In July 2004 the airport opened four new jet bridges
Jetway
A jet bridge is an enclosed, movable connector which extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, allowing passengers to board and disembark without having to go outside...
that can accommodate regional and mainline jets. The airport finished extending Taxiway Alpha for the full length of Runway 16-34 in 2010.
Before the regional jets took over the commuter market, US Airways (previously USAir) frequently operated DC-9's, Boeing 737's, and Fokker Jets out of BGM servicing Pittsburgh International Airport and the surrounding regional airports.
In September 2011, the airport secured a federal grant for $12.3M to extend Runway 34 by 200 feet and replace the aging EMAS system originally installed in 2002. In order to complete the runway extension, Commercial Drive will be relocated so large amounts of fill can be added to the end of the current threshold. At completion, Runway 16-34 will measure 7,300 feet.
Airlines and destinations
Incidents
- In June 1952, a SNJT-6 TexanThe North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...
U.S. Navy trainer crashed 250 yards east of the airport. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
- On July 23rd 1955, a TBM Avenger U.S. Naval Reserve aircraft crashed short of the runway. The pilot suffered minor injuries.
- On September 4th 1957, a U.S. Air Force C-124A Globemaster II (51-5173) enroute from Larson AFB, Washington crashed while attempting a landing. The plane was delivering 20 tons of equipment for Link Aviation. The Crew of 9 survived.
- On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, United Airlines Flight 7823, a United ExpressUnited ExpressUnited Express is a brand name under which eight regional airlines operate feeder flights for United Airlines. They primarily connect smaller cities with United's domestic hub airports and “focus cities,” although they offer some point-to-point service such as Sacramento to Eureka.As of Sept...
Saab 340Saab 340The Saab 340 is a discontinued Swedish two-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by a partnership between Saab and Fairchild Aircraft in a 65:35 ratio...
turboprop operated by Colgan AirColgan AirColgan Air, Inc. is an American certificated regional airline subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. The headquarters of Colgan Air are located in Memphis, Tennessee....
made an emergency landing after the crew received a fire indication in the left hand engine while passing through 10,000 feet. The flight was bound for Washington Dulles International AirportWashington Dulles International AirportWashington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
. Upon landing in Binghamton, 16 minutes after takeoff, all 33 passengers evacuated via the over-wing emergency exits. None of the passengers required medical attention. Maintenance determined the cause of the fire indication was a faulty sensor. Passengers continued on to Washington after an approximately five hour delay.