Texel International Airport
Encyclopedia
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
of Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
in the north of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It has a customs service to handle international flights making it an international airport, though no scheduled international flights take place from the airport as the name might suggest. Because of this, it has no IATA
International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
code assigned to it.
The airfield is mainly used by small piston engine
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
aircraft, but turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
s such as the Fokker 50 and small jets
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
such as the Cessna Citation can also land at Texel. A lit platform for helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s is also available. The biggest aircraft ever at Texel Airport was the Fokker 100, the biggest helicopter was a Mil Mi-26
Mil Mi-26
The Mil Mi-26 is a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter. In service with civilian and military operators, it is the largest and most powerful helicopter ever to have gone into production.-Design and development:...
.
One of the main activities on Texel Airport is skydiving
Parachuting
Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
.
The island itself is a popular tourist destination especially during summer and so a lot of private pilot
Private Pilot License
A Private Pilot License or, in the United States of America, a Private Pilot Certificate, is a license that permits the holder to act as the pilot of an aircraft privately . The requirements to obtain the license are determined by the International Civil Aviation Authority , but the actual...
s come to the island for recreation. There is also a small museum showing the history of aviation on the island.
DC-3 disaster
A memorial on the airport reminds of the disaster with a Douglas DC-3Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
from the Dutch Dakota Association
Dutch Dakota Association
The Dutch Dakota Association or DDA Classic Airlines, known by many just as the DDA, is a small foundation dedicated to the preservation and operation of classic aircraft, especially the Douglas DC-3 Dakota...
on 25 September 1996. It was on its way from Texel to de Kooy
De Kooy
De Kooy Airfield is an airfield south of Den Helder, the Netherlands, named after the nearby hamlet De Kooy. It serves as both a civilian airport under the name Den Helder Airport and a naval airport under the name Maritiem Vliegkamp De Kooy .Most movements on the De Kooy are made by...
airport at Den Helder
Den Helder
Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
when one of the engines failed and the crew was unable to feather the propellor. The aircraft crashed in shallow water near the town Den Oever
Den Oever
Den Oever is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Wieringen, and lies about east of Den Helder...
. None of the 32 people onboard survived the crash.
External links
- Texel airport (official website)
- Aviation museum Texel
- Paracentrum Texel
- Airport Hotel Texel