Henderson Field (Midway Atoll)

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Henderson Field (IATA: MDY, ICAO: PMDY) is a public airport located on Sand Island in Midway Atoll, an unincorporated territory of the United States. The airport is used as an emergency diversion point for ETOPS operations.

Henderson Field was named after Major Lofton R. Henderson (killed in the Battle of Midway during WWII) and is one of 3 airfields so-named (the other 2 include the original Henderson Field on Eastern Island (Midway Atoll) and Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)). The airfield now provides access to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge - the sole "window" into the rich resources of Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument (established in 2006). It operated until 1993 as Naval Air Facility Midway.

After transition from the U.S. Navy to the Department of the Interior, the airport was subsidized by Boeing until 2004. Since 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Dept. of Interior) has fully supported airport operations and maintenance with some assistance from the FAA.

Henderson Field is an uncontrolled airport (no tower). Flight arrivals and departures are typically limited to night during the months of November-June when albatross are present. (Midway Atoll NWR is the world's largest nesting albatross colony.)

Video Henderson Field (Midway Atoll)

Past airline service

The airfield was previously served by Aloha Airlines with scheduled weekly charter flights to and from Honolulu utilizing a Boeing 737-200 jetliner. In early 2000, Aloha began scheduled 737 passenger service between Midway Island and Honolulu.

Continental Micronesia served Midway with Boeing 727-100 jetliners during the early 1970s although the airport was only used as an "operational stop" on this airline's westbound service from Honolulu to Guam. The routing of these 727 flights was Honolulu - Midway Island - Kwajalein - Majuro - Ponape - Truk - Guam.

During the early 1950s, the airfield was used as a technical stop by Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) for its Boeing 377 Stratocruiser propliners as part of Pan Am's round the world service from New York City to San Francisco via London, Frankfurt, Delhi, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Guam, Honolulu and other en route stops.

Maps Henderson Field (Midway Atoll)

Facilities

Henderson Field covers 1,200 acres (486 ha) and has one runway:

• Runway 6/24: 7,800 ft × 150 ft (2,377 m × 46 m), surface: asphalt

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References

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External links

• AirNav - Henderson Field Airport : Airport facilities and navigational aids.

Source of article : Wikipedia