| Griffin–Spalding County Airport | |
| Faa: | 6A2 |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Griffin Spalding Airport Authority |
| City-Served: | Griffin, Georgia, US |
| Elevation-F: | 958 |
| Coordinates: | 33.2264°N -84.2756°W |
| R1-Number: | 14/32 |
| R1-Length-F: | 3,701 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2011 |
| Stat1-Header: | Based aircraft |
| Stat1-Data: | 90 |
| Footnotes: | Sources: FAA[1] |
Griffin–Spalding County Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) south of the central business district of Griffin, a city in Spalding County, Georgia, United States. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.[2]
Griffin–Spalding County Airport was built in 1939.[3] Despite the relatively short length of its then 3100feet runway, Griffin's airport hosted various large piston aircraft including the Douglas DC-3 and the Aviation Traders Carvair, a cargo conversion of the DC-4 from the 1970s until the 1990s.[4] For the 12-month period ending on July 3, 2011, there were 90 aircraft based at this airport.[2]
On April 4, 1997, at 12:16 am, a Custom Air Service flight going to Rockford, Illinois, via Albany, Georgia, using an Aviation Traders Carvair crashed into a disused Piggly Wiggly grocery store 1360feet beyond the departure end of Runway 32 following an engine failure during the takeoff roll. The aircraft was completely destroyed in the resulting fire and the crew, the only occupants of the aircraft, were both killed.[5] On November 21, 2003, at 12:45 pm, a Beechcraft Baron crashed due to the loss of engine power during a maintenance flight approximately NaNmiles beyond the departure end of Runway 32. The sole occupant of the aircraft, the pilot, was killed on impact with a commercial building. No other casualties were caused by the accident.[6] Another incident at the airport occurred on November 11, 2009 when a pilot attempted to flee from authorities in his DC-3 after being cited for driving his automobile on the runway. The pilot was unable to take off and was suspended from employment with Delta Air Lines following his arrest. The incident shut down the airport for 45 minutes.[7]
A proposal was made by the airport authority prior to 2014 to close the airport and pay back the FAA, but the FAA rejected the proposal that year citing the closure of the airport would contradict their mission to promote aviation and improve aviation infrastructure.[8] A sum of $55.4 million in federal and state funding has been secured to relocate the airport within Spalding County. In 2024 the city manager of Griffin announced the new airport could open by 2029.[9] [10]
Griffin–Spalding County Airport covers an area of 198acres at an elevation of 958feet above mean sea level. It is an uncontrolled airport that lies beneath, but not within the Class B airspace surrounding Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It has one runway designated 14/32 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,701 by 75 feet (1,128 x 23 m). In addition to general aviation facilities, the airport also hosts an air ambulance, an aviation division of the Georgia State Patrol and Civil Air Patrol, and aircraft manufacturing and salvage facilities.[11] [12]