Mercer County Airport is in Mercer County, three miles northeast of

Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield micropolitan area extending into Virginia, which had a populatio ...

and about nine miles southwest of

Princeton, West Virginia Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield micropolitan area. History Early history Princeton was ...

. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. With the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of September 3, 1982, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was required to develop a ...

for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

'' facility. The airport has been served by scheduled airlines. Service was subsidized by the

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintain commercial service. Its aim is ...

program until August 1, 2006, when it ended due to federal law not allowing a subsidy over $200 per passenger for communities within 210 miles of a large or medium hub airport (

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport Charlotte Douglas International Airport is an international airport serving Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, located roughly west of the city's central business district. Charlotte Douglas is the primary airport for commercial and m ...

in North Carolina being 173 miles away).

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

records say Mercer County Airport had 2,041 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2004, 1,885 enplanments in 2005, 1,833 in 2006 and 1,721 in 2007. Scheduled passenger flights ended in 2007.

Facilities

Mercer County Airport covers 511

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s (207 ha) at an elevation of 2,857 feet (871 m). Its one runway, 5/23, is 4,743 by 100 feet (1,446 x 30 m) asphalt. In the year ending July 11, 2023, the airport had 16,400 aircraft operations, average 45 per day: 88%

, 11%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

, and <1% military. 21 aircraft were then based at this airport: 15 single-engine, 5

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

, and 1

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

Former airlines

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. ( ) is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the Salisbury, Maryland, city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American ...

1953–54 to 1980 (the airport opened about 1953) *

Appalachian Airlines Appalachian Airlines was a US commuter airline that operated out of northeast Tennessee. It was founded in 1977 as Appalachian Flying Service, and ceased its operations in 1980. At one time, the airline operated a fleet of seven Piper Navajo airc ...

(ended operations in 1980) *

Colgan Air Colgan Air was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1965 until 2012, when it became a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. The initial headquarters of Colgan Air was in Manassas, Virginia, Manassas, Virginia until 2010, and ...

(ended operations November 12, 2007) * Aeromech Airlines (service during the early 1980s)

Accidents at BLF

*On April 12, 1961, a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

operated by

US Steel The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

Corp. was damaged beyond repair in a runway excursion and went over an embankment. There were no fatalities or injuries. *On January 21, 1981, a

Cessna Citation I The Cessna 500 Citation I is a small business jet produced by Cessna, the basis of the Citation family. The Fanjet 500 prototype was announced in October 1968, first flew on September 15, 1969, and was certified as the 500 Citation on September ...

operated by

Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of Tissue paper, tissue, Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, toilet and paper towe ...

Corp. crashed after an attempted go-around on a slushy runway, overran the runway, struck three localizer antennas and a 10-foot embankment before plunging into a steep wooded hillside. All five occupants were killed.

References

Other sources

* Essential Air Service documents
Docket OST-1997-2761
from the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

: *
Order 2002-4-25 (May 2, 2002)
tentatively reselects Colgan Air, Inc. d/b/a US Airways Express, to provide essential air services at Beckley and Bluefield/Princeton, West Virginia, for the two-year period beginning August 1, 2002, at an annual subsidy rate to $2,067,693, *
Order 2002-10-34 (October 31, 2002)
finalizes the tentative findings and conclusions set forth in Order 2002–4–25. *
Order 2004-6-14 (June 23, 2004)
selects Colgan Air, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to continue providing essential air service at Beckley and Bluefield/Princeton, West Virginia, for the two-year period beginning August 1, 2004, at an annual subsidy of $20,017,064. *
Order 2006-6-22 (June 26, 2006)
terminating the essential air service subsidy eligibility of Bluefield/Princeton, West Virginia, as of August 1, 2006, and allowing Colgan Air, Inc., d/b/a US Airways Express, to suspend service there as of the same date, if it chooses (subsidy per passenger already exceeded the statutory ceiling of $200 per passenger and the community is located 173 miles from Charlotte, the nearest large or medium hub).

External links