Blue Grass Airport (IATA: LEX, ICAO: KLEX, FAA LID: LEX) is a public airport located in Fayette County, Kentucky, United States, 4 miles west of the central business district of the city of Lexington. The main terminal building was opened in 1977. The airport covers an area of 911 acres (3.69 km2) and has two runways. It is also home to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. On April 18, 2007, Blue Grass Airport opened up an extension of Concourse B. The extension added six new boarding gates with 4 new jetways. On August 4th, 2010 a new 4,000 foot runway, 9/27, was opened replacing the airport’s previous 3,500 foot runway, 8/26.[1] In 2010 there were 1,104,558 passengers that either departed or arrived at Bluegrass Airport.[2]
Airlines and destinations [edit]
Top destinations [edit]
Busiest Domestic Routes from LEX (September 2010-August 2011)[3]
| Rank |
City |
Passengers |
Carriers |
| 1 |
Atlanta, GA |
130,000 |
Delta, Delta Connection |
| 2 |
Charlotte, NC |
78,000 |
US Airways Express |
| 3 |
Chicago, IL |
60,000 |
United Express, American Eagle |
| 4 |
Detroit, MI |
59,000 |
Delta Connection |
| 5 |
Orlando, FL |
33,000 |
AirTran |
| 6 |
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX |
33,000 |
American Eagle |
| 7 |
Memphis, TN |
25,000 |
- |
| 8 |
Houston (Intercontinental), TX |
21,000 |
Continental Express |
| 9 |
St. Petersburg, FL |
17,000 |
Allegiant |
| 10 |
New York (LaGuardia), NY |
17,000 |
Delta Connection |
Incidents and Accidents [edit]
- December 5, 1987: After suffering an in-flight engine fire en route from Dallas, Texas to New York, the flight crew of a Hawker Siddeley HS.125 business jet, registration number N400PH, touched down short of the runway while attempting an emergency landing at Blue Grass Airport. The jet crossed a highway and struck an automobile, utility poles, and 2 fences, killing the pilot and co-pilot, and injuring both passengers in the aircraft and 2 people in the automobile. The accident was attributed to the crew's inadvertent retraction of the aircraft's flaps, causing the jet to suddenly lose altitude.[4][5]
- November 1993: The flight crew of an unidentified commercial jet at Blue Grass Airport was cleared for takeoff on Runway 22 but mistakenly lined up at the shorter Runway 26 instead. Tower personnel noticed the mistake and cancelled the aircraft's takeoff clearance just as the crew realized their error. The aircraft subsequently made a safe departure from Runway 22.[6]
- August 30, 2002: A Learjet 35C, registration number N45CP, overran Runway 4 on landing, killing 1 passenger and seriously injuring 4 other occupants of the aircraft. The accident was attributed to the pilot's application of additional forward thrust after failing to properly deploy the jet's thrust reversers.[7]
- March 25, 2009: A Cessna 182, registration number N4871N, crashed 3 mi (5 km) west of Blue Grass Airport, killing the pilot and sole occupant. The pilot apparently became disoriented during the landing approach after losing electrical power in densely clouded IFR conditions, but the cause of the crash had not been positively determined as of September 2009.[8]
Fictional Reference [edit]
Blue Grass Field was Auric Goldfinger's flight destination in the James Bond film Goldfinger[9]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ http://www.bluegrassairport.com/080410_newrunway.html
- ^ http://www.bluegrassairport.com/021011_passengeractivity.html
- ^ http://www.transtats.bts.gov/airports.asp?pn=1&Airport=LEX&Airport_Name=Lexington,%20KY:%20Blue%20Grass&carrier=FACTS
- ^ "NTSB Probable Cause Report ATL88MA053". National Traffic Safety Board. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ^ Staff writers (1987-12-06). "2 Killed, 4 Injured in Kentucky Plane Crash". The Dallas Morning News.
- ^ "NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System report #256788". NASA. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ^ "NTSB Probable Cause Report NYC02FA177". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
- ^ "NTSB Preliminary Report ERA09FA215". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
- ^ Goldfinger Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or James Bond movie
External links [edit]