Nikolski Air Station Explained
Nikolski Air Station is an unattended airport located in Nikolski on Umnak Island in the Aleutians West Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. This former military airport is now owned by The Aleut Corporation.[2]
Scheduled commercial airline passenger service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. Current service to Nikolski is provided by Grant Aviation from Unalaska.
As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 165 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[3] 219 enplanements in 2009, and 160 in 2010.[4]
History
The airport was built in 1958 to support Nikolski Air Force Station, a Cold War United States Air Force Distant Early Warning Line radar station on Umnak Island. The station was operated by Detachment 1, 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 site around 2000, removing all abandoned military structures and returning the site to a natural condition.
Facilities
Nikolski Air Station resides at elevation of 77 feet (23 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 8/26 with a gravel surface measuring 3,512 by 135 feet (1,070 x 41 m).
Incidents and accident
- On 29 May 1965, a Reeve Aleutian Airways Douglas C-47A (N91016),[5] during the take-off phase, stalled and crashed because a sudden wind gust caused a premature lift-off. The three crew members and the two passengers on board were not injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and left by the side at the end of the airstrip ever since.[6]
See also
Other sources
- Essential Air Service documents (Docket DOT-OST-1995-363) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
- Order 2004-6-20: re-selecting Peninsula Airways to provide essential air service at Atka and Nikolski, Alaska, at annual subsidy rates of $336,303 and $173,603 per year, respectively, for the period ending June 30, 2006.
- Order 2006-5-21: re-selecting Alaska Airlines to provide essential air service at Adak, Alaska, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,393,384, and Peninsula Airways for $449,605 at Atka and $314,694 at Nikolski. The three rates extend through June 30, 2008.
- Order 2008-3-36: re-selecting Alaska Airlines to provide essential air service at Adak, Alaska, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,483,122, and Peninsula Airways for $513,803 at Atka and $469,786 at Nikolski. The three rates extend through June 30, 2010.
- Order 2010-7-9: re-selecting Alaska Airlines to provide essential air service (EAS) at Adak, Alaska, at an annual subsidy rate of $1,675,703, and Peninsula Airways, Inc., for $290,780 at Atka and $639,008 at Nikolski. The three rates extend through June 30, 2012.
- Order 2012-5-20 (May 23, 2012): selecting Grant Aviation, Inc., to provide essential air service (EAS) at Atka, Alaska, for $842,574 the first year and $822,445 the second year, and at Nikolski, Alaska, for $331,431 the first year and $324,998 the second year.
Notes and References
- . Federal Aviation Administration. Effective May 31, 2012.
- http://www.aleutcorp.com/ www.aleutcorp.com
- Web site: Enplanements for CY 2008 . PDF, 1.0 MB . faa.gov . Federal Aviation Administration . December 18, 2009 .
- Web site: Enplanements for CY 2010 . PDF, 189 KB . faa.gov . Federal Aviation Administration . October 4, 2011 .
- Web site: Reeve Aleutian Airways Douglas C-47A . Aivaition Safety . 4 January 2021.
- Web site: Saturday 29 May 1965 . Aivaition Safety . 4 January 2021.
