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Kirksville Regional Airport

Coordinates: 40°05′36″N 092°32′42″W / 40.09333°N 92.54500°W / 40.09333; -92.54500
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"IRK" redirects here. For other uses, see Irk (disambiguation).
Kirksville Regional Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerCity of Kirksville
ServesKirksville, Missouri
LocationPettis Township, near Millard
Elevation AMSL966 ft / 294 m
Coordinates40°05′36″N 092°32′42″W / 40.09333°N 92.54500°W / 40.09333; -92.54500
Website[1]
Map
IRK is located in Missouri
IRK
IRK
IRK is located in the United States
IRK
IRK
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
18/36 6,005 1,830 Concrete
9/27 1,370 418 Turf
Statistics (2023)
Aircraft operations (year ending 4/30/2023)5,888
Based aircraft20

Kirksville Regional Airport (IATA: IRK, ICAO: KIRK, FAA LID: IRK) is four miles south of Kirksville, Missouri,[1] on the west side of US highway 63.[2] One airline schedules passenger flights, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 684 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[3] 926 in 2009 and 2,127 in 2010.[4] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year).[5]

Cape Air is the current airline, averaging 900 to 1,000 passengers per month[6] on three daily round trips to St. Louis Lambert International Airport.[7] After Cape Air notified the city in November 2022 of their plans to terminate their service, the Kirksville City Council approved a contract on February 6, 2023 with Contour Airlines, with service beginning in June to Chicago O'Hare International Airport.[8]

Clarence Cannon Memorial Terminal at Kirksville Regional Airport.

History

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Local resident Nick Sparling is credited as being Adair County's first aviator, in 1909.[citation needed] In 1924, Roy B. "Cap" Dodson started the first airport in the area, located on the north edge of Kirksville.[citation needed] However, an airfield at the present location of Kirksville Regional Airport wasn't created until 1930 when the Federal Aviation Administration built a series of emergency landing strips across the nation. With America's entry into World War II, the Kirksville Municipal Airport, as it had been declared in the late 1930s, received a major upgrade from the Civilian Pilots Training Program and the US Army Air Corps War Training Service.[citation needed] In 1942 a paved all-weather landing strip, hangars, a control tower and small restaurant were built; the paved runway was 3870 ft until 1968.[citation needed]

In 1960, Ozark Air Lines began scheduled flights.[citation needed] The Ozark route began in Kansas City to Chicago with stops in Kirksville, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Moline, Illinois.[citation needed] Airport improvements came after a bond issue was approved by Kirksville voters in 1967. A new six-thousand foot concrete runway was built, as well as a new terminal building and improved hangar facilities. The longer runway was needed for the faster Fairchild prop-jet that began flights to Kirksville in late 1968.[citation needed] Also in the 1960s, Ozark switched Kirksville service from a Kansas City-Chicago route to a Des Moines-to-St. Louis one. With the airport improvements came a new name, Clarence Cannon Memorial Airport—chosen to honor long-time US Congressman Clarence Cannon of Missouri who had done much to help secure air service and funding for the airport.[citation needed]

Ozark Airlines flew their final route on April 23, 1976.[citation needed] Fortunately a local pilot and dentist, Dr. Stephen Barber, had established a small commuter air service, Horizon Airways, in 1972.[citation needed] Horizon was able to help fill the void left by Ozarks departure, eventually expanding to five aircraft and service to both Kansas City and St. Louis.[9][10]

From 1978 to 1987, Kirksville was served by Green Hills Aviation with commuter flights to St. louis.

From 1987 through 1989, Midcontinent Airlines flew to Kansas City as Braniff Express on behalf of Braniff (1983-1990).

Kirksville went without commercial service during 1990 until Redwing Airways began commuter flights to Kansas City which continued until 2001.

From 2001 through 2006 Corporate Airlines, which later became RegionsAir, provided flights to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The carrier first operated as Trans World Express on behalf of TWA then as American Connection on behalf of American Airlines.

Air Midwest (operating as US Airways Express) provided flights to Kansas City International Airport from 2006 through 2008.[11]

Kirksville went without service from mid-2008 through mid-2009 until Air Choice One began scheduled flight operations twice daily, to and from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport during July 2009.[citation needed]

In September, 2010 Cape Air replaced Air Choice One with service to St. Louis that continued until 2023.[citation needed]

In November 2022, Cape Air notified Kirksville of their plans to terminate service. However, the airline was still required to continue their flights until the city selected a replacement. The Kirksville City Council approved a contract on February 6, 2023 with Contour Airlines, with 12 flights per week beginning in June 2023 to Chicago O'Hare International Airport using Embraer 135 regional jets. This is the first jet service to Kirksville.[12]

Scheduled operations are currently subsidized by the Essential Air Service Act.

Facilities

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The airport covers 476 acres (193 ha) at an elevation of 966 feet (294 m). It has two runways: 18/36 is 6,005 by 100 feet (1,830 x 30 m) concrete; 9/27 is 1,370 by 100 feet (418 x 30 m) turf.[1]

In the year ending April 30, 2023 the airport had 5,888 aircraft operations, average 113 per week: 50% general aviation, 37% airline, 12% air taxi, and <1% military. 20 aircraft were then based at the airport: 17 single-engine, 2 multi-engine, and 1 jet.[1]

Airline and destination

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AirlinesDestinationsRefs.
Contour Airlines Chicago–O'Hare [13]

Incidents

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  • On October 19, 2004, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashed on approach to Kirksville. Thirteen individuals died and two sustained injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determined pilot error to be the cause of the accident.[14][15]
  • On May 12, 2005 a Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 made an emergency landing at Kirksville Regional Airport after encountering icing and subsequent pilot induced loss of control.[16] To date it is the largest aircraft to have landed at Kirksville Airport.
  • On November 5, 2013 American business executive Robert Groh, President of Geo-Syntheics, LLC, and an instructor pilot were killed when their plane crashed on final approach to Kirksville Regional Airport. The plane, a Piper PA-32 Saratoga, went down in a rural area of Adair County approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the runway shortly after a radio check-in with airport personnel. At that time the pilot reported no difficulties. The plane was on a cross-country flight from Centennial Airport near Denver, Colorado to Waukesha, Wisconsin, the home city for Geo-Syntheics.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for IRK PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective August 10, 2023.
  2. ^ "General Aviation - City of Kirksville, Missouri".
  3. ^ "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). CY 2008 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  4. ^ "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). CY 2010 Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  5. ^ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on September 27, 2012.
  6. ^ Garlock, John (May 11, 2012). "Kirksville airport to embark on expensive improvements". KTVO-TV via website. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  7. ^ "Kirksville Regional Airport-Cape Air schedule". City of Kirksville website. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  8. ^ Bachman, Marty (February 12, 2023). "Kirksville City Council approves Contour Airlines as new Essential Air Service provider for Kirksville Airport". Kirksville Daily Express via website. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  9. ^ A History Of Adair County Missouri published by the Kirksville-Adair County Bicentennial Committee, 1976.
  10. ^ 'Flying High!' by Tony Frost & Corey Pritchard, published in The Chariton Collector magazine Spring, 1987.
  11. ^ "Mesa Air Group Announces Schedule and Fares for Kirksville, Missouri as US Airways Express". Press Release. Mesa Air Group. October 13, 2006.
  12. ^ Bachman, Marty (February 12, 2023). "Kirksville City Council approves Contour Airlines as new Essential Air Service provider for Kirksville Airport". Kirksville Daily Express via website. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  13. ^ "Contour Airlines August 2023 Chicago Network Expansion". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  14. ^ "Aircraft Accident Report: Collision with Trees and Crash Short of Runway, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966, British Aerospaaace BAE-J3201, N875JX, Kirksville, Missouri, October 19, 2004". National Transportation Safety Board. 2006-01-24.
  15. ^ "Poor Behavior, Fatigue Led to '04 Plane Crash". Washington Post. 2006-01-25.
  16. ^ Ranter, Harro. "Incident Boeing 717-200 N910ME, 12 May 2005". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  17. ^ Hunsicker, Jason (6 November 2013). "Plane crash victims were business owner, flight instructor". Kirksville Daily Express. Retrieved 7 November 2013.

Other sources

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  • Essential Air Service documents (Docket DOT-OST-1997-2515) from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
    • Order 2005-6-14: re-selecting RegionsAir, Inc. d/b/a American Connection, formerly known as Corporate Airlines (RegionsAir), to provide subsidized essential air service (EAS) at each of the above communities for a new two-year period from June 1, 2005, through May 31, 2007
    • Order 2006-8-19: selecting Air Midwest, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express (Air Midwest), to provide essential air service (EAS) at Kirksville, Missouri, at an annual subsidy rate of $627,100. This rate and carrier selection will become effective for the two-year period beginning when Air Midwest replaces RegionsAir, Inc. (formerly Corporate Airlines, Inc.), d/b/a American Connection (RegionsAir) at Kirksville.
    • Order 2008-5-2: selecting Multi-Aero, Inc. d/b/a Air Choice One to provide essential air service at Kirksville, Missouri with 11 nonstop stop round trips each week to St. Louis on 6 or 9-seat Twin Engine aircraft. Annual subsidy rate $806,169.
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