Huntsville International Airport

Huntsville International Airport (IATA: HSV, ICAO: KHSV, FAA LID: HSV), also known as Carl T. Jones Field, is an airport located 9 miles (14 km) southwest of the central business district of Huntsville, a city in Madison County, Alabama, United States.^[1] The airport is a part of the Port of Huntsville (along with the International Intermodal Center and Jetplex Industrial Park), and serves the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. Opened October 1967, this became the third airport site for Huntsville.^[2] Today, it has a single straightforward layout with 12 gates and features restrooms, shops, restaurants, phones and large murals depicting various aviation and space exploration scenes. There is a Four Points by Sheraton above the ticketing area/lobby, and adjacent to the terminal is a parking garage and to opposite sides are the control tower and a golf course. The airport's west runway, at 12,600 ft (3,800 m), is the second longest in the Southeastern United States, being just 400 ft shorter than the international runway at Miami International Airport.

The airport's "Fly Huntsville" custom jingle encourages passengers to depart directly from Huntsville instead of driving to Birmingham or Nashville.^[3] However, a hesitancy by locals to fly from HSV may be understandable, as an August 2009 report by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics covering the first quarter of 2009 revealed that Huntsville passengers paid, on average, the highest airfares in the United States.^[4] The airport reported that commercial airline passenger traffic at Huntsville International increased 2.3 percent in January 2010 over the same period one year before.^[5]

Airlines and destinations

Huntsville International Airport is served by seven airlines representing all three international airline alliances.

Cargo

Huntsville International is the largest airport in Alabama in terms of cargo transport. Huntsville features daily cargo service to Europe, and frequent service to Mexico and Hong Kong. It is therefore the only true international airport in the state. These airlines have Huntsville operations:

• ABX Air
• Atlas Air
• Cargolux
• FedEx Express
• Panalpina
• UPS Airlines

Expansion

In 1989, Huntsville International became the first airport in the United States to install an ASR-9 dual-channel airport surveillance radar system.^[6]

Currently, Huntsville International is undergoing major renovations of the concourse facilities, which will add:^[7]

• A $60 million terminal expansion (under construction)
• A new 219 ft (67 m) tall control tower (completed in 2007, opened May 4, 2008)
• An expanded 5,000 sq ft (460 m²) concession area on concourse (opened April 12, 2008)
• Upgraded flight information display systems at gates & parking areas (completed in 2007)
• A parking deck expansion with 1,330 additional parking spaces (completed in December 2008)
• An enlarged 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m²) public waiting and security screening area (completed in June 2009)
• An expansion on the west runway, making it the second longest in the southeast (completed in 2006)
• A new taxiway between both runways with a 269 ft (82 m) tunnel running underneath (under construction)
• A new air cargo building at the International Intermodal Center, which will include about 92,000 square feet (8,500 m²) (completed in February 2009)
• Security system improvement (completed in October 2008)
• Taxiway "L" between the airport's east and west runways (completed in October 2008)
• Dirt work on a new Jetplex Industrial Park north access road linking the airport's entrance to Wall Triana Highway (completed in July 2008)
• AirTran started servicing HSV with direct flights to Orlando in May, 2010, and to Baltimore in June, 2010.

Also, plans are underway for another terminal area, added runways, and the lengthening of the two current runways.

Accidents and Incidents

October 17, 1965

A Douglas DC-6 operated by United Airlines crashed while attempting to takeoff at Huntsville. While the plane was accelerating down the runway, the pilots pulled the nose up too early and retracted the front landing gear. The aircraft sank back laying the front of the fuselage on the runway. The pilots retarted the throttle and the plane stopped 272 feet (83 m) past the runway end.^[8]

April 4, 1977

Southern Airways Flight 242, left Huntsville bound for Atlanta but crashed near Rome, Georgia. The Douglas DC-9 operated by Southern Airways entered a severe thunderstorm causing both engines to fail, the pilots attempted an emergency landing on State Highway 92 in Georgia but crashed, killing 63 people on the plane and 9 on the ground.

December 11, 1991

A Beechcraft Beechjet 400A crashed into Mount Lavendar after taking off from Rome, Georgia, to Huntsville. The aircraft crashed after entering a mountainous terrain with low visibility.^[9]

References

External links

• Huntsville International Airport (official web site)
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 15 December 2011
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KHSV
  • ASN accident history for HSV
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KHSV
  • FAA current HSV delay information