Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport

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Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (Isla Grande Airport) Aeropuerto Isla Grande

IATA: SIG - ICAO: TJIG
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Puerto Rico Ports Authority
Serves		San Juan, Puerto Rico
Elevation AMSL		10 ft (3 m)
Coordinates		18°27′25″N, 66°05′53″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
9/27	5,317	1,621	Asphalt

Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport's runway can be seen at the top right of this photo of San Juan's ship dock

Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (IATA: SIG, ICAO: TJIG), also commonly known as Isla Grande Airport, is a small airport in San Juan, about 5 minutes by air and 15 minutes by car from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. It is adjacent to the new Puerto Rico Convention Center, the San Juan bay, and the Pan American Cruise Ship Terminal, and overlooks Cataño.

While Isla Grande's main operation is with general aviation, it is still a commercial airport, dealing with some domestic commercial flights.

1 History
2 Incidents
3 Facilities
4 Airlines
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Isla Grande was Puerto Rico's main international airport until 1954, when Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport was built. Until that year, international airlines such as Lufthansa, Iberia Airlines, Pan Am and other majors flew to Isla Grande. However, since Isla Grande airport was not built to accept jets, all international airlines then moved their operations in Puerto Rico to Luis Muñoz Marín Airport, then Isla Verde International Airport.

Isla Grande was renamed in honor of United States Air Force Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci, an F-111 pilot who was killed in action during Operation El Dorado Canyon; the 1986 airstrike of Libya.

A controversy regarding Isla Grande and Dorado Airport surfaced in 2003. Dorado Airport wants to expand and attract the private aviation sector that has been Isla Grande's main business for so long. Isla Grande's authorities have not made a decision yet on catering for the private aviation sector or letting Dorado Airport handle the private airplanes.

On October 26, 2003, the airport made history by becoming the first Puerto Rican site of a SCCA Grand Prix race.

[edit] Incidents

On December 21, 1994, a United Airlines Boeing 757 flight enroute to San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport mistakenly landed at Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport.

In December of 2002, a helicopter that had been rented from a company that operates out of this airport was hijacked and taken to a jail in Ponce, where six inmates boarded the helicopter, forcing the pilot to drop them off at a farm. The pilot was able to fly back after he lied to the prisoners about their whereabouts, making them jump off the helicopter and zig-zagging the helicopter to prevent them from shooting at him. Soon after, all escapees were found by the police.