Jacquinot Bay Airport Explained

Jacquinot Bay Airport
Iata:JAQ
Icao:AYJB
Pushpin Map:Papua New Guinea
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of airport in Papua-New Guinea
Pushpin Label:Jacquinot
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Type:Public
Location:Jacquinot Bay, Papua New Guinea
Elevation-F:210
Elevation-M:64
Coordinates:-5.6525°N 151.5069°W
Metric-Rwy:y
R1-Number:16/34
R1-Length-M:1,715
R1-Length-F:5,627
Footnotes:Source:, PNG Airstrip Guide[1]

Jacquinot Bay Airport is an airport near Jacquinot Bay in the East New Britain Province on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. The airstrip was liberated by the Australian Army in 1944, and an airstrip was built by 1945. There is no scheduled airline service.

History

World War II

The Jacquinot Bay area was liberated by the Australian Army on 4 November 1944. The 2/3 Railway Construction Company and the 17th Field Company RAE began construction of an airfield and in February 1945, No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron expanded the base. The airfield had a single coral 100feetx6100feetft (xft) runway.

Royal Australian Air Force units based here included:

Royal New Zealand Air Force units based here included:

Following the Japanese surrender several Japanese aircraft were flown from Vunakanau Airfield to Jacquinot Bay Airfield.

Postwar

On 15 November 1945 an RAAF C-47 #13339 crashed into a mountain on a flight from Jacquinot Bay to Rabaul, all 28 passengers and crew were killed.[4]

Facilities

The airport has one runway which measures 1715m (5,627feet) in length.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.pngbd.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-14283.html PNG Airstrip Guide
  2. Web site: Netherlands East Indies Air Force in Australia During World War 2 . Dunn, Peter . Oz at War .
  3. Book: Ross, John . Royal New Zealand Air Force. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Battery Press. Nashville. 1993. 1955. 0898391873. 322.
  4. Web site: Douglas C-47A-25-DK. Aviation Safety network. 17 June 2013.