Smolensk North Airport
Smolensk North Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military and civilian | ||||||||||
| Operator | Russian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Location | Smolensk | ||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+4 (+4) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 820 ft / 250 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 54°49′30″N 032°1′30″E / 54.82500°N 32.02500°E | ||||||||||
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Smolensk North Airport (IATA: LNX, ICAO: UUBS) (Russian военный аэродром "Смоленск-Северный", "Smolensk North Military Aerodrome") is a decommissioned military airbase in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located 4 km north of the city of Smolensk. It is now used as Smolensk's sole airport for civil and military flights.[2] It has a remote revetment area with 8 pads and a Yakovlev factory at the southeast side of the airfield, the Smolensk Aviation Plant.
The airport was originally built in the 1920s, and it eventually became a class 1 airfield with a runway 2500 m long and 49 m wide, capable of handling planes over 75 tons in weight.[3]
Prior to 1991, it was home to the 401 IAP (401st Interceptor Aviation Regiment,[3] disbanded around 1990), flying MiG-23P aircraft, and the 871 IAP, flying MiG-23 and Su-27.
From 1946[3] until 2009, the base hosted an airlift unit, the 103 Gv VTAP (103rd Guards Military Air Transport Regiment, full name in Russian: 103-й гвардейский Красносельский Краснознамённый военно-транспортный авиационный полк имени Героя Советского Союза В. С. Гризодубовой),[4] flying Ilyushin Il-76 jets.[5][6] At one point, about 28 Il-76 aircraft were based there.
The regiment was disbanded in late 2009, and since then there have been no active units at the base except for a small airbase command post.[4]
The airfield has been functioning in part as a civilian airport since October 2009.[3]
Accidents and incidents
A Polish government Tu-154M Lux carrying President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and an official delegation crashed during the final approach to the airport on 10 April 2010. All 96 aboard perished.[7]
References
- ^ a b [1]
- ^ Questions loom over disastrous Polish presidential flight.
- ^ a b c d "Аэродром Смоленск-Северный". "Kommersant". 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
- ^ a b "Эксперт: На пилотов самолета с польским президентом могло оказываться давление". REGNUM News Agency. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- ^ "37 Vozdushnaya Armiya VGK". Brinkster.com.
- ^ Butowski, Pyotr (2004). Air Power Analysis: Russian Federation. AIRtime Publishing, Inc.
- ^ Golloher, Jessica (10 April 2010) "Polish President, 95 Others Killed in Plane Crash ", VOA News, 10 April 2010, Retrieved April 10, 2010
External links
- History of the 103rd Guards Military Transport Aviation Regiment, accessed 7 June 2010