Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport

Encyclopedia : F : FE : FER : Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport

{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 220px; font-size: 95%;" |- ! colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport |- |align="center" colspan="4"|

|- !colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background-color: #4682B4; color: white;" |Runways |- !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Direction !bgcolor="lightgrey" colspan="2"|Length !bgcolor="lightgrey" rowspan="2"|Surface |- !bgcolor="lightgrey"|ft !bgcolor="lightgrey"|m |- !align="left" valign="top"|09/27 |valign="top" align="right"|5,317 |valign="top" align="right"|1,621 |valign="top"|Asphalt

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

Fernando Ribas Dominicci Airport , 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 Munoz Marin 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.

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.

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.

Incidents

In 1994, a United Airlines pilot who was travelling for the first time to Puerto Rico, confused Isla Grande airport with the international airport, and accidentally landed a Boeing 757 there. He and his passengers then flew the five minute air trip from Isla Grande to Luis Muñoz Marín International.

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.

Facilities

Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport covers 102 acres and has one runway:

• Runway 09/27: 5,317 x 100 ft. (1,621 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt

Airlines

• Aeromed
• M & N Aviation (Vieques)
• Roblex Aviation
• SJ Jets
• Vieques Air Link

External links

• [FAA Airport Diagram] (PDF)
• Resources for this airport:
• * AirNav [airport information for TJIG]
• * FlightAware [airport information] and [live flight tracker]
• * NOAA/NWS [current] and [historical] weather observations
• * SkyVector [aeronautical chart for SIG]
• [Maps and aerial photos]
• * WikiSatellite view at [WikiMapia]
• * Street map from [MapQuest] or [Google Local]
• * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
• * Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
• * Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Microsoft Virtual Earth]

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