Henderson Field (Midway Atoll)
Henderson Field (IATA: MDY, ICAO: PMDY) is a public airport located on Sand Island in Midway Atoll, an unincorporated territory of the United States. The airport is used as an emergency diversion point for ETOPS operations. It still serves in this capacity, for instance in June 2011, in July 2012 and in July 2014.
Henderson Field was named after Major Lofton R. Henderson (killed in the Battle of Midway during WWII) and is one of 3 airfields so-named (the other 2 include the original Henderson Field on Eastern Island (Midway Atoll) and Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)). The airfield now provides access to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge - the sole "window" into the rich resources of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (established in 2006). It operated until 1993 as Naval Air Facility Midway.
After transition from the U.S. Navy to the Department of the Interior, the airport was subsidized by Boeing until 2004. Since 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Dept. of Interior) has fully supported airport operations and maintenance with some assistance from the FAA.
Henderson Field
Henderson Field is the name of several airports:
Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)
Henderson Field is a former military airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands during World War II. Originally built by the Japanese, the conflict over its possession was one of the great battles of the Pacific war. Today it is Honiara International Airport.
History
Japanese construction
After the occupation of the Solomon Islands in April 1942, the Japanese military planned to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southern Solomons, extending their southern defensive perimeter establishing bases to support possible future advances. Seizure of Nauru, Ocean Island, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa would cut supply lines between Australia and the United States, with the result of reducing or eliminating Australia as a threat to Japanese positions in the South Pacific.
The airfield on Guadalcanal was first surveyed by Japanese engineers when they arrived in the area in early May, and was known as "Lunga Point", or "Runga Point" to the Japanese, and code named "RXI". The airfield would allow Japanese aircraft to patrol the southern Solomons, shipping lanes to Australia, and the eastern flank of New Guinea.
Henderson Field (Midway)
Henderson Field (originally known as Naval Air Station Midway Islands) on East Midway Island is a former World War II airfield in the Central Pacific. The airfield was abandoned after the war.
History
The Midway Islands are best known as the location of the pivotal battle of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. Henderson Field was built in 1941. It consisted of a seaplane facility on Sand Island and a landplane airfield on Eastern Island. The Eastern Island airfield initially comprised three runways, 2 hangars & a barracks.
Midway was shelled by a Japanese destroyer on the same day as the Pearl Harbor attack, and was shelled by a submarine several months later.
During the climactic Battle of Midway in 1942, the Japanese were so sure of their victory that they deliberately spared the runways of Eastern Island for their use after the capture of the island. That didn't happen, due to their overwhelming defeat in the waters surrounding Midway.
Aircraft of the Navy, Marine Corps & Army operated from Eastern Island, and helped to turn back the Japanese Fleet. The Marine Corps had nineteen SBD-2 Dauntless dive-bombers, seven F4F-3 Wildcat, seventeen SB2U-3 Vindicators, twenty-one F2A-3 Brewster Buffalos and six TBF-1 Avenger torpedo-bombers.
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll (/ˈmɪdweɪ/; also called Midway Island and Midway Islands; Hawaiian: Pihemanu Kauihelani) is a 2.4-square-mile (6.2 km2) atoll in the North Pacific Ocean at 28°12′N 177°21′W / 28.200°N 177.350°W / 28.200; -177.350Coordinates: 28°12′N 177°21′W / 28.200°N 177.350°W / 28.200; -177.350. As its name suggests, Midway is roughly equidistant between North America and Asia, and lies almost halfway around the world longitudinally from Greenwich, UK. It is near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Tokyo, Japan.
Midway Atoll is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, and the former home of the Naval Air Facility Midway (former ICAO PMDY). For statistical purposes, Midway is grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. It is less than 140 nautical miles (259 km; 161 mi) east of the International Date Line, about 2,800 nautical miles (5,200 km; 3,200 mi) west of San Francisco, and 2,200 nautical miles (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) east of Tokyo. The Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, encompassing 590,991.50 acres (239,165.77 ha) of land and water (mostly water) in the surrounding area, is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Approximately 40 to 60 members of the Service live on the Atoll.
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