Todos
← Back to Squawk list
In Case of Emergency, Fly to One Tiny Airport in Maine
Trouble lands here, sometimes twice a week. Airline flights with security threats, sick passengers and mechanical problems often end up at Bangor International Airport—the first or last major airport in the U.S. for the hundreds of flights across the Atlantic Ocean every day. Flights that are running low on fuel or need to wait out bad weather at their destinations put down here, too. (online.wsj.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Bangor was my distination when flying home from Ernest Harmon In Newfoundland via Goose bay several times. I've always considered it a very strategic asset for the Northeast coast. I personally don't understand why we moved out of EHAFB, it was in a perfect location.
I flew through Bangor on my first trip across the pond in 1969 on a B707 charter which stopped to refuel, since the runways at Dallas Love Field (this was before DFW opened) weren't of sufficient length for takeoff of a fully-loaded aircraft of that size and weight (passengers and enough fuel for a nonstop flight at its maximum range). As I recall, the refueling took a long enough period that all us passengers were offloaded and wandered around the rustic "terminal" for awhile, which looked remarkably like the former Air Force hanger it actually was. This must have been among the early group of flights following the AFB decommissioning and conversion to civilian use, as the local staff provided plenty of snacks and other tidbits to make us comfortable, but that could also have just been a reflection of that flight era. Since this took place in early June and it was already hot in Texas, I also remember how pleasantly cool the temperature was there, as well as where I traveled in Europe over the following 10 weeks. The return flight out of Amsterdam to Love was non-stop and the heat of mid-August on my return was initially something of a shock, but as a Texas native I got used to it again pretty quickly.
Many thanks,cheers
In late April I was on the evening flight from DFW to CDG. About 4 hrs in and just as we were heading out over the Atlantic they announced a medical emergency in the back of the B767. Minutes later we felt the plane start a u-turn and a rapid descent. Eventually we landed at Stephenville, Newfoundland, probably at 2 or 3:00 a.m. local time. A fellow on the plane had a heart attack and the local EMS team boarded and took him out the back door. Then there was a lengthy refueling negotiation with the local jet fuel provider. Apparently there had been no previous AA diversion there and the captain had to use his credit card to gas up. The usual AA diversion field, Gander, was fogged in. We landed at CDG about 3 hrs late, and even so I noticed no tantrums by passengers while on the ground in Newfoundland. I did miss my reserved seat on the TGV to Aix en Provence, but I got the next train at 2:00 and it turned out well. I do wonder what ever happened to the poor fellow with the MI.
James, I agree with you. The headline is totally misleading. I've landed there, and a runway over 11,000 feet long is anything but tiny. Kudos to all that work there and help out when trouble arises.
bangor is showing all airports how to do things two thumbs up for bangor
Bangor is that one airport that you don't think much of when crossing the pond, UNLESS you really need it! A lot of aircrews, both commercial and military are thankful for that. I've seen my share of 9/11 pictures of Bangor,along with Gander and St. Johns. Ramp saturation was an understatement.