Jackson Hole Airport
Coordinates: 43°36′26″N 110°44′16″W / 43.60722°N 110.73778°W
| Jackson Hole Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| IATA: JAC – ICAO: KJAC – FAA LID: JAC | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Jackson Hole Airport Board | ||
| Serves | Jackson, Wyoming | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 6,451 ft / 1,966 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 1/19 | 6,300 | 1,920 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2009) | |||
| Aircraft operations | 30,865 | ||
| Based aircraft | 50 | ||
| Sources: airport web site[1] and Federal Aviation Administration[2] | |||
Jackson Hole Airport (IATA: JAC, ICAO: KJAC, FAA LID: JAC) is a public airport located seven miles (11 km) north of the central business district of Jackson, a town in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. It is owned by the Jackson Hole Airport Board.[2]
It is the only airport in the United States located inside a national park, in this case Grand Teton (The Provincetown Municipal Airport in Massachusetts is on land leased from the National Park Service, but it is not in a National Park). A large fraction of air travellers headed to Grand Teton National Park or nearby Yellowstone National Park and western Wyoming go through the airport. The airport at one time had an unusual terminal building resembling a pioneer log cabin which blended with the surrounding environment and served to attract visitors. Starting in 2009, a major $30 million terminal expansion project began. The design; however, still blends with the unique surroundings of the national park and Jackson Hole preservation area. The entrance from the outside is a wood walkway that heads to the main terminal building. The airport has 6 gates.[1]
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[edit] History
The airport was created in the 1930s as the best place to put an airport in Teton County. The airport was declared a national monument in 1943, and merged with Grand Teton National Park in 1950. In 1959, the runway was extended to its current length to better accommodate larger planes, especially the DC-3. In the 1960s and 1970s, the possibility of extending the runway to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) to accommodate jet aircraft was considered. Strong opposition from the National Park Service over noise and other environmental effects prevented such an extension. However, development of better jet engines in the late 1970s made it possible to land jets on the existing runway. Being inside a national park and the Jackson Hole area, the region is very noise sensitive and the airport currently allows only stage III jet aircraft which have newer, quieter engines. The airport is a popular mating ground to the rare Sage Grouse.[3]
[edit] Facilities and aircraft
Jackson Hole Airport covers an area of 533 acres (216 ha), which contains one runway designated 1/19 with a 6,300 x 150 ft (1,920 x 46 m) asphalt pavement. For the 12-month period ending December 1, 2009, the airport had 30,865 aircraft operations, an average of 85 per day: 52% general aviation, 25% air taxi, 22% scheduled commercial and <1% military.[2] There are 52 aircraft based at this airport: 69% single-engine, 6% multi-engine, 21% jet, 3% glider, and 1% cattle cargo.[2] Jackson Hole Airport is very noise sensitive being in a national park, and has a ban on aircraft with stage-II engines which are older, noisier jet engines. Few aircraft for charter are based at Jackson Hole Airport.[4] New Flight Charters has a Cessna T206 based there and several other charter aircraft nearby for departures from Jackson Hole Airport.[5]
The largest aircraft to operate to the airport on a regular basis is a Boeing 757-200. American Airlines operates this aircraft daily on a seasonal basis to Dallas; United Airlines operates it several times daily to Denver during the summer. Delta Air Lines also provides 757 service of various frequencies to its hubs at Salt Lake City and Atlanta.
[edit] Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| American Airlines | Seasonal: Dallas/Fort Worth |
| Delta Air Lines | Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City, Atlanta |
| Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines | Salt Lake City |
| Frontier Airlines | Seasonal: Denver |
| United Airlines | Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Houston-Intercontinental [begins June 8, 2012] |
| United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines | Denver Seasonal: Los Angeles, San Francisco [begins July 1, 2012] |
[edit] Accidents and incidents
On August 17, 1996, a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft assigned to the 317th Airlift Group at Dyess AFB, Texas was unable to clear Sheep Mountain, crashing into it and killing all nine aboard. The aircraft was supporting the United States Secret Service as part of a POTUS visit to the area.[6]
On December 20, 2000, Sandra Bullock survived the crash of a chartered business jet at Jackson Hole Airport. The aircraft hit a snowbank instead of the runway, shearing off the nose gear and nose cone and damaging the wings.[7]
On June 27, 2005, John T. Walton died when his CGS Hawk Arrow homebuilt aircraft (registered as an "experimental aircraft" under FAA regulations) that he was piloting crashed in Jackson, Wyoming. Walton's plane crashed at 12:20 p.m. local time (1820 GMT) shortly after taking off from Jackson Hole Airport.[8]
[edit] World's Top 10 Airport Approaches
Jackson Hole Airport came third in a survey conducted by PrivateFly.com in 2011 to find the world's best airport approaches.[9]
[edit] Gallery
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Aerial photo of airport
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Map showing the airport
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Closeup of airport map
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Airport as seen from the aerial tram at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
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View of the Tetons from the ramp
[edit] References
- ^ a b Jackson Hole Airport, official web site
- ^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for JAC (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2010-11-18
- ^ Jackson Hole Airport: History
- ^ New Flight Charters: Jackson Hole Airport
- ^ Jones II, Roy A. (18 August 1996). "Dyess C-130 crashes; no survivors". Abilene Reporter-News. http://www.texnews.com/news/crash081896.html. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "Plane Crash Involving Actress Sandra Bullock". AirSafe.com. Revised 16 November 2007. http://www.airsafe.com/events/celebs/bullock.htm. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "DEN05FA100". NTSB. 31 October 2006. http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20050705X00921&key=1. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ PrivateFly.com
[edit] External links
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 12 January 2012
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KJAC
- ASN accident history for JAC
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures
