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71-503: Rafael Hernández Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Rafael Hernández ) ( IATA : BQN , ICAO : TJBQ , FAA LID : BQN ), also referred to as the Rafael International Hernández Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández ), is an airport located in the municipality of Aguadilla in northwestern Puerto Rico . Named after the composer Rafael Hernández Marín , it is the second-largest airport of

142-482: A Puerto Rican politician, sought a writ of certiorari against Prinair at the United States Supreme Court ; he was denied. In the early 1980s, Prinair introduced into service larger and more capable Convair 580 turboprop aircraft. This provided the plane spotter at San Juan with another interesting aircraft type to look out for, but did little for the airline other than help increase the earnings from

213-668: A charter airline, starting with services between Aguadilla on Puerto Rico's northwest coast and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Prinair suffered three fatal accidents and two non-fatal hijacking incidents during its existence. On March 5, 1969 Prinair Flight 277 departed Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands for a flight to San Juan. Seventeen minutes after take-off, the crew contacted San Juan Approach Control. The approach controller on duty (a trainee) replied; "Prinair Two Seven Seven, San Juan Approach Control, radar contact three miles east of Isla Verde...maintain four thousand." The aircraft

284-495: A flight two times a week. In 2007, there were 59 flights per week including one daily flight to New York City , one to Newark and Orlando and a flight operated five times per week to Fort Lauderdale . Spirit increased their flight frequency to daily to/from Fort Lauderdale . In addition, Spirit added a daily non-stop service to Orlando in February 2008. JetBlue continued to have two daily flights to New York City after

355-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

426-601: A number of passenger air carriers operating scheduled jet service including American Airlines , Arrow Air , Capitol Air , Continental Airlines , Kiwi International Airlines , Pan Am ( II and III ), Trans World Airlines (TWA), Southeast Airlines , Aeronaves de Puerto Rico and Delta Connection , and also by Turkish Airlines Cargo on the cargo airline side. Taesa flew in 1996 from Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City , and in 1985, Arrow Air operated domestic McDonnell Douglas DC-10 wide body jet service on

497-534: A once a week basis to the airport from San Juan (SJU) as well DC-10 nonstop flights six days a week from JFK International Airport (JFK) in New York. Pan Am III also flew jets between Aguadilla and San Juan during the early 2000s. Currently, although the airport lacks non-stop flights to Asia , it is the only airport in Puerto Rico served by an Asian commercial airline, in this case by Emirates Sky Cargo . In 1939,

568-643: A second runaway to the airport. In June 2021, an official plan of expansion was announced by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority and paid by the FAA. The expansion plan includes building a new runway to replace the current one completed by 2027 as the current runway has only five years left of service, having been built in the 1930s for World War II. Aside from the new runway, a new passenger terminal and three new cargo warehouses are planned to be built. The Puerto Rico Ports Authority seeks to bring back airlines with

639-459: A subsequent government investigation over these incentives ensued and the project was cancelled after only two AR 404s were built at Rafael Hernández Airport. In 2004, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority announced that it would be remodeling and expanding BQN to accommodate more flights and passengers. An expansion of the terminal building and a new parking lot were among the projects in mind, with said expansion being inaugurated on July 12, 2005. Since

710-459: A subsequent government investigation over these incentives ensued and the project was cancelled after only two AR 404s were built at Rafael Hernández Airport. In 2004, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority announced that it would be remodeling and expanding BQN to accommodate more flights and passengers. An expansion of the terminal building and a new parking lot were among the projects in mind, with said expansion being inaugurated on July 12, 2005. Since

781-518: A tenant weather reconnaissance squadron operated WB-47 Stratojet and WC-130 Hercules aircraft. Due to the size and weight of the B-36, the runway at Ramey had to be built to a length of 11,702 feet (3,567 m) and a width of 200 feet (61 m), added an 870 feet (270 m) Blast Pad at each end and a 50 feet (15 m) shoulder on each side. The closure of what became Ramey Air Force Base began in 1971 and lasted until 1973. Following its closure, it

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852-519: A week, although this service ended on January 20, 2007, as part of Delta 's restructuring plan. Later in 2007, JetBlue began service to Orlando International Airport in Florida. In the summer of 2007, Spirit Airlines announced plans to begin service from the airport to their hub in Fort Lauderdale, Florida , with a flight five times a week during the summer. It then reduced its service frequency to

923-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

994-600: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

1065-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

1136-650: Is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

1207-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

1278-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

1349-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1420-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1491-667: The Main Cargo Terminal , the FedEx Terminal, and the General Aviation Terminal. The north side also houses the Copeca Jet Center Executive Terminal, as well as five service hangars. The military side of the airport is also located on the north side, housing Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen , a United States Coast Guard facility, as well as the 141st Air Control Squadron (which operates at

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1562-812: The Punta Borinquen Radar Station ), a non-flying unit of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard . Many Federal law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection , the US Border Patrol Ramey Sector in Map and the CBP Air and Marine Operations Operating Locations Southeast Region Caribbean Air and Marine Branch based their operations on this side of the airport. The closure of what became Ramey Air Force Base began in 1971 and lasted until 1973. Following its closure, it

1633-452: The archipelago and island in terms of passenger traffic after the main airport of Luis Muñoz Marín International . It is also home to Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations . Set to be modernized, the 11,702 ft (2.2163 mi ) long runway of the airport is the longest in the Caribbean . In the past, the airport has been served by

1704-457: The 20 occupants (including both pilots). An accident investigation found that the go-around was prompted by a vehicle on the runway, but the investigation was re-opened three years after the accident due to evidence that there was no vehicle on the runway; the second investigation concluded that the go-around was due to unknown reasons. Prinair Flight 610 crashed moments after taking off at Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands on July 24, 1979, with

1775-722: The Americas, starting with 2 reconditioning lines by C and D checks for the Airbus A320, with plans to expand up to 5 reconditioning lines. In 1988, Carnival Airlines and ATA began passenger jet service. In the 1990s, American Airlines , joined those two airlines, followed by Pan Am II and TWA . Carnival Airlines operated Airbus A300 wide body jet service to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey and Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida . In

1846-487: The Americas, starting with 2 reconditioning lines by C and D checks for the Airbus A320, with plans to expand up to 5 reconditioning lines. The south side of the airport is the largest portion of the airport, but is currently undeveloped. Since the airport was transferred from the U.S. Air Force and the General Services Administration (GSA) to Puerto Rico Port Authority in 1973, the south side has been

1917-625: The Armed Forces maintain a military presence within the former Air Force base. Many Federal law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection , the United States Border Patrol Ramey sector and the CBP Air and Marine Operations Caribbean Branch operate at the airport. A January 16, 2010, news report stated that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a master plan to redevelop

1988-512: The Army sent Major George C. Kenney to Puerto Rico to conduct a preliminary survey of possible air base sites on Puerto Rico. He examined a total of 42 sites and declared that Punta Borinquen the best site for a major air base. Planted sugar cane farms covered some 3,796 acres (1,536 ha) that the government purchased for military use in the first week of September 1939 at a cost of $ 1,215,000. Later that year, Major Karl S. Axtater assumed command of what

2059-535: The Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla that would involve an investment of $ 1 billion over the next 20 years. In 2010, the Aguadilla airport had two commercial passenger gates. The master plan calls for a total of 30 commercial passenger gates. There are also plans to expand the airport access road. There are official plans to renovate the runway to coincide with FedEx ’s expansion. There are plans to add

2130-428: The U.S. Secretary of Commerce that the airport will be designated a "free trade zone" (FTZ), as are many other airports in the U.S., a move that is believed will improve the development of the airport and surrounding areas. On April 10, 2014, Lufthansa Technik announced the creation of a maintenance, repair and overhaul center (MRO) at the airport. This created operations for maintenance of Lufthansa Aircraft flying on

2201-428: The U.S. Secretary of Commerce that the airport will be designated a "free trade zone" (FTZ), as are many other airports in the U.S., a move that is believed will improve the development of the airport and surrounding areas. On April 10, 2014, Lufthansa Technik announced the creation of a maintenance, repair and overhaul center (MRO) at the airport. This created operations for maintenance of Lufthansa Aircraft flying on

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2272-477: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Prinair Prinair is a Puerto Rican charter operator airline. It

2343-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

2414-630: The Virgin Islands routes. Increased competition for these routes from Aero Virgin Islands and Oceanair , in addition to a measure of distrust from the public that had not forgotten a number of fatal crashes, resulted in Prinair ceasing operations in 1985. It was the intention that Prinair would have been one of the launch customers of the CASA CN-235 and at the roll-out of the new aircraft in September 1983

2485-527: The airline's 13th route serving Puerto Rico from destinations in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Spirit eventually stopped all flights from Aguadilla in 2023. Rafael Hernández Airport covers an area of 1600 acres (647 ha). BQN has one runway, 8/26: 11,702 ft x 200 ft (3,567 m x 61 m) Asphalt /Concrete. The north side of the airport consists of a passenger terminal with an international side capable of handling flights of over 200 passengers. It also hosts

2556-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

2627-606: The airport was closed due to the pandemic and passenger flights weren't permitted. On April 1, 2021, the airport reopened for passenger flights. This table shows the continuous growth of passenger traffic at the airport since 2001, but affected in 2009 by the lack of new flights: For the year 2007, the airport transported 400,473 passengers , nearly a 500% increase in five years. Rafael Hernández Airport has an average of 47 regular passengers flights per week. The airport can be accessed via two highways from [REDACTED] PR-2 . IATA airport code The assignment of these codes

2698-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

2769-408: The closure of Ramey AFB in 1974, the airport's control tower had remained standing, but was non-operational, limiting the airport to UNICOM communication as an uncontrolled airport. Following refurbishment of the former USAF control tower in 2006 and 2007, the newly renovated control tower became operational on July 5, 2007. On February 20, 2012, it was announced by both the mayor of Aguadilla and

2840-408: The closure of Ramey AFB in 1974, the airport's control tower had remained standing, but was non-operational, limiting the airport to UNICOM communication as an uncontrolled airport. Following refurbishment of the former USAF control tower in 2006 and 2007, the newly renovated control tower became operational on July 5, 2007. On February 20, 2012, it was announced by both the mayor of Aguadilla and

2911-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

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2982-517: The domestic side equipped with a United States Department of Agriculture facility, while the international side contains a United States Customs inspection facility. The cargo section of the airport is divided in two sections, the Main Terminal and the FedEx Terminal. The FedEx Terminal is home to FedEx and its local affiliates. The remaining Cargo Carriers are located in the Main Terminal. The U.S Coast Guard and various reserve components of

3053-417: The early 1990s, Carnival Airlines also operated the first intra- Puerto Rican jet service from the airport to Ponce with Boeing 727s as well as with wide body Airbus A300s . Another carrier, Prinair , also had previously conducted operations at Rafael Hernández Airport. North Cay Airways also provided passenger air service from San Juan at some time during the airport's history. In 1995, American Airlines

3124-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

3195-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

3266-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

3337-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

3408-500: The holiday season, adding a second daily flight to/from Orlando on May 1, 2008. On June 2, 2008, Pan Am World Airways Dominicana restored service between the airport and Santo Domingo -Las Americas as well as to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic . On May 24, 2022, Frontier Airlines launched service for the first time to/from Orlando International Airport (MCO). The new service operates three to four times weekly and marks

3479-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

3550-513: The latter airline has continued to provide service. Boston-Maine Airways operating as Pan Am began jet service to Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida and to Santo Domingo . In 2005, JetBlue began a daily flight to their hub at New York JFK. Soon after the arrival of JetBlue, North American ceased operations. As a result, JetBlue announced that it would add a second daily flight to New York JFK. In 2006, Delta Connection began regional jet service to Atlanta, Georgia , five times

3621-630: The loss of eight lives. An accident investigation found that the aircraft had been overloaded by 1,060 pounds and that the center of gravity (CG) was 8 inches beyond the maximum rear limit. According to the February 1, 1981 Prinair system timetable route map, the airline was operating scheduled passenger service to the following destinations in the Caribbean. All flights were operated with either Convair 580 turboprop or de Havilland Heron prop aircraft at this time: A second version of Prinair operated between 2007 and 2010 with Piper Chieftain aircraft. A Prinair Beechcraft King Air aircraft appears in

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3692-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

3763-511: The new expansion. There are also plans to renovate the airport's facilities including bathrooms, relocating stores, adding jet bridges and more. JetBlue studied expansion for the 3 main airports in Puerto Rico for 2011 (Aguadilla, Ponce, and San Juan) and is one of two airlines that operate in all three airports, the other one being Frontier. In the past, American Airlines offered service to their hub in Miami from Rafael Hernández Airport. Previously,

3834-415: The object of various disputes and competing political campaign promises by local elected officials and local political candidates. Despite such promises over the past four decades, the south side remains undeveloped. Under the administration of Sila M. Calderón and Aníbal Acevedo Vilá , a master plan was conceived to turn the south side into an air cargo hub for the Caribbean, but local residents objected to

3905-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

3976-501: The prototype was actually painted in Prinair colors (right side only). However, the demise of Prinair prevented delivery. The airline did operate an earlier CASA-manufactured aircraft, the C-212 Aviocar turboprop. In 2007, the airline resumed operations with Piper Chieftain propeller-driven aircraft; The airline again ceased all flights in 2010. The company's Prinairtours announced that in 2019 Prinair would relaunch flights as

4047-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

4118-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

4189-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

4260-412: The use of the south side for cargo rather than a modern passenger terminal. The passenger terminal was upgraded to include air conditioning, more space for modern airline ticket counters and car rental counters. It consists of two gates, Gate 14 and Gate 15. Gate 15 is used for departures while Gate 14 is used for arrivals. The terminal is divided into two sections, domestic and the international, with

4331-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

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4402-624: Was Puerto Rico 's domestic and international flag carrier airline for almost two decades from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. Despite previously ceasing scheduled commercial operations twice, it restarted flights in 2019. Service began in 1966 under the name Aerolíneas de Ponce (Ponce Airlines) with Aero Commander aircraft. The initial service flew from Mercedita Airport in Ponce to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (then known as Isla Verde International Airport ) in San Juan . The company's name

4473-660: Was actually three miles east of the Fajardo waypoint instead of the Isla Verde waypoint (which is located about 10 miles west of the Fajardo waypoint). Six minutes later the aircraft crashed in the Sierra de Luquillo mountains at an elevation of about 2400 feet; all 19 occupants were killed. The accident investigation found that Air Traffic Control was to blame. On June 24, 1972 Prinair Flight 191 crashed after going around just after touching down at Ponce's Mercedita Airport, killing five of

4544-462: Was changed to Prinair the following year ( P uerto R ico In ternational Air lines). The airline later used de Havilland Heron piston-engined aircraft for its services. Prinair introduced their own version of the Heron by converting the aircraft to use 300 hp Continental IO-520 engines in place of the original 250 hp Gipsy Queen 30-2 engines. The Prinair fleet which grew to over 20 aircraft

4615-540: Was converted into a civilian airport. It used to receive domestic commercial flights by Prinair and Vieques Air Link as well as service from JFK International Airport in New York City with Capitol Air , and 707 passenger flights from Miami with Southeast Airlines . It is also noted for being the place that the large clothing company, Wrangler Jeans used to land their planes filled with company-related cargo as part of their airline operation, Wrangler Aviation, which

4686-498: Was converted into a civilian airport. It used to receive domestic commercial flights by Prinair and Vieques Air Link as well as service from JFK International Airport in New York City with Capitol Air , and Boeing 720 passenger flights from Miami operated by Southeast Airlines . It is also noted for being the place that the large clothing company, Wrangler Jeans used to land their planes filled with company-related cargo as part of their airline operation, Wrangler Aviation, which

4757-574: Was later renamed to Sky Lease Cargo . In the mid and late 1970s, the Ahrens Aircraft Corporation attempted to set up operations at former USAF industrial facilities at the airport in order to manufacture the Ahrens AR 404 regional airliner, a short takeoff and landing ( STOL ) turboprop aircraft, with financial incentives promised by the Puerto Rican government for development. However,

4828-400: Was later renamed to Sky Lease Cargo . In the mid and late 1970s, the Ahrens Aircraft Corporation attempted to set up operations at former USAF industrial facilities at the airport in order to manufacture the Ahrens AR 404 regional airliner, a short takeoff and landing ( STOL ) turboprop aircraft, with financial incentives promised by the Puerto Rican government for development. However,

4899-480: Was operating daily nonstop Boeing 757-200 jet service to New York JFK airport with Carnival Airlines also flying nonstop to JFK at this same with Boeing 727-200 jet service three days a week. In 2000, North American Airlines had reopened passenger service with a non-stop flight to New York JFK three times a week. Later, Continental Airlines joined North American with a daily flight to their hub in Newark . Continental has since merged with United Airlines , and

4970-500: Was the largest Heron fleet in the world. During the 1970s, expansion saw the airline start cargo freighter services to Opa-locka (a Florida location near Miami) as well as passenger service to Santo Domingo , the Virgin Islands (U.S. and British), Martinique, Barbados, Puerto Plata , and other Caribbean destinations, as well as Vieques , Mayagüez , Culebra and Aguadilla on the domestic side. During 1978, Nicolas Nogueras ,

5041-434: Was to become Borinquen Army Air Field. With the establishment of an independent United States Air Force in 1947, the complex was renamed Ramey Air Force Base in 1948. Ramey AFB was home to a Strategic Air Command bombardment wing and housed a number of B-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bombers. The B-36s were later replaced by B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers and KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, while

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