Blue Grass Airport

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Blue Grass Airport
Blue Grass Airport Logo.svg
Blue Grass Airport Terminals.jpg
IATA: LEX – ICAO: KLEX – FAA LID: LEX
KLEX is located in Kentucky
KLEX
KLEX
Location of Bluegrass Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board
Operator Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board
Serves Lexington, Kentucky
Location Fayette County
Elevation AMSL 979 ft / 298 m
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Website www.bluegrassairport.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
4/22 7,004 2,135 Asphalt
9/27 4,000 1,219 Concrete
Statistics (2014)
Aircraft operations 69,071
Based aircraft (2013) 107
Passengers 1,209,327

Blue Grass Airport (IATA: LEX, ICAO: KLEX, FAA LID: LEX) is a public airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, 4 miles west of downtown Lexington. The current main terminal building was opened in 1977. The airport covers 911 acres (3.69 km2) and has two runways. It is home to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. On April 18, 2007, Blue Grass Airport opened an extension of Concourse B, adding six boarding gates with 4 new jetways. On August 4, 2010 a new 4,000 foot runway, 9/27, opened replacing the previous 3,500 foot runway, 8/26. In 2013, 1,104,354 passengers departed or arrived at Blue Grass Airport.[2]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations Concourse
Allegiant Air Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers/Punta Gorda, Orlando/Sanford, St. Petersburg/Clearwater
Seasonal: Baltimore (begins June 3, 2016),[3] Myrtle Beach, Savannah (begins June 2, 2016)[4]		 A, B
American Eagle Charlotte, Chicago–O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia B
Delta Air Lines Atlanta B
Delta Connection Atlanta, Detroit, New York–LaGuardia, Washington–National
Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul		 B
United Express Chicago–O'Hare, Houston–Intercontinental A

Top destinations

Busiest Domestic Routes from LEX (September 2014 - August 2015)[5]
Rank City Airport Passengers Carriers
1 Atlanta, GA Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) 168,000 Delta
2 Charlotte, NC Charlotte/Douglas International (CLT) 77,000 US Airways Express
3 Chicago, IL Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) 76,000 United Express, American Eagle
4 Detroit, MI Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW) 59,000 Delta Connection
5 Orlando, FL Orlando Sanford International (SFB) 39,000 Allegiant
6 Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) 39,000 American Eagle
7 Punta Gorda, FL Punta Gorda (PGD) 28,000 Allegiant
8 Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) 28,000 US Airways Express
9 St. Petersburg, FL St. Petersburg/Clearwater (PIE) 25,000 Allegiant
10 Fort Lauderdale, FL Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL) 17,000 Allegiant

History

Blue Grass airport opened with a star-shaped layout. In WWII it was used by pilots training at Bowman for dead-stick landing practice in preparation for glider assaults.[6]

Incidents and Accidents

  • December 5, 1987: After suffering an in-flight engine fire en route from Dallas, Texas to New York, the flight crew of a Hawker Siddeley HS.125 business jet, registration number N400PH, touched down short of the runway while attempting an emergency landing at Blue Grass Airport. The jet crossed a highway and struck an automobile, utility poles, and 2 fences, killing the pilot and co-pilot, and injuring both passengers in the aircraft and 2 people in the automobile. The accident was attributed to the crew's inadvertent retraction of the aircraft's flaps, causing the jet to suddenly lose altitude.[7][8]
  • November 1993: The flight crew of an unidentified commercial jet at Blue Grass Airport was cleared for takeoff on Runway 22 but mistakenly lined up at the shorter Runway 26 instead. Tower personnel noticed the mistake and cancelled the aircraft's takeoff clearance just as the crew realized their error. The aircraft subsequently made a safe departure from Runway 22.[9]
  • August 30, 2002: A Learjet 35C, registration number N45CP, overran Runway 4 on landing, killing 1 passenger and seriously injuring 4 other occupants of the aircraft. The accident was attributed to the pilot's application of additional forward thrust after failing to properly deploy the jet's thrust reversers.[10]
  • March 25, 2009: A Cessna 182, registration number N4871N, crashed 3 mi (5 km) west of Blue Grass Airport, killing the pilot and sole occupant. The pilot apparently became disoriented during the landing approach after losing electrical power in densely clouded IFR conditions, but the cause of the crash had not been positively determined as of September 2009.[11]
  • March 25, 2010: A medical helicopter, Eurocopter EC135, had to make an emergency landing at Blue Grass Airport on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The chopper, with a patient on board, skidded to a stop along a grassy area next to a runway after one engine lost power. There were no reports of injuries, but emergency vehicles flooded the area moments after the helicopter landed.
  • January 12, 2011: Blue Grass Airport in Lexington was on alert Wednesday morning after a plane had to be turned around due to a cracked windshield. US Airways Flight 3792 from Lexington to Charlotte was supposed to leave Blue Grass Airport at 6:50 a.m., but was delayed to 9 a.m. and was in the air around 9:20 a.m. About 10 minutes later, the plane had to be immediately turned around because of a cracked windshield. Passengers got back to the airport safely and a spokesperson for the airline says the crack appears to have made it through the outer most layer, one of several layers. One passenger described it as a big crack, a significant crack and looked like a spider web. The airline said the damage was contained to one side where the first officer sits. The airline also said the flight was canceled, and that the plane will have to be repaired and all the passengers would be re-booked on other flights. Blue Grass Airport officials say the incident did not disrupt any other flights.
  • March 9, 2011: NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and two others were unhurt after the landing gear of the private plane, Falcon 20,[12] they were flying collapsed as the plane landed at Blue Grass Airport in the morning. The incident happened at about 11:00 AM, when a mechanical failure during the landing caused the aircraft to skid to a stop on the runway, which is the main runway at the airport. The plane was en route to Lexington from Statesville, North Carolina.

Popular culture

Blue Grass Field was Auric Goldfinger's flight destination in the James Bond film Goldfinger.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ FAA Airport Master Record for LEX (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 4/3/2014. Retrieved 2014-05-19
  2. ↑ 2013 Passenger Statistics Bluegrass Airport. Retrieved 2014-05-19
  3. ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/allegiant-to-add-baltimorewashington-with-new-route-420619/
  4. ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/allegiant-to-add-baltimorewashington-with-new-route-420619/
  5. ↑ Lexington, KY: Blue Grass (LEX) RITA. Retrieved 2015-04-16
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Small_plane_crash_leaves_runway_at_Bluegrass_Airport_shutdown_117657778.html
  13. ↑ Goldfinger Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or James Bond movie

External links

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