Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Cold Bay Airport is a state-owned public airfield on the wind-swept western end of the Alaska Peninsula, built as a wartime bomber base and now one of the principal airfields serving the Aleutians East Borough. Its huge former military runway makes it a valued emergency diversion field for trans-Pacific traffic, while scheduled air taxi and cargo operators keep it busy on a daily basis.
Cold Bay Airport lies at the remote town of Cold Bay on the Alaska Peninsula, close to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Built by the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War, it later served as an Air Force base and today functions as a state-owned public airfield handling scheduled passenger and cargo flights for the surrounding Aleutian communities. For a visiting pilot the field is notable chiefly for its exceptionally long main runway, a legacy of its military origins, and for its role as an emergency diversion airport for aircraft crossing the Pacific.
Cold Bay sits within Anchorage Center airspace, with Anchorage Center working on 118.5 MHz. The airfield is uncontrolled, with a Flight Service Station co-located on the field providing advisory service on the common frequency. It is located in the Aleutians East Borough on the western Alaska Peninsula, close to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, roughly 634 miles southwest of Anchorage and about 180 miles northeast of Unalaska.
Cold Bay has two paved runways. The main runway, 15/33, is a substantial 10,196 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and served by an ILS on runway 15, making it one of the longest runways in Alaska. The secondary runway, 08/26, is also hard-surfaced and lit, at 5,176 feet for runway 08 and 5,199 feet for runway 26. Field elevation is 89 feet.
The airfield uses 123.6 MHz for CTAF and Flight Service Station traffic, with the Kenai remote FSS also operating on this frequency. Automated weather is broadcast on the ASOS frequency of 135.75 MHz. Anchorage Center can be reached on 118.5 MHz. Runway 15 is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Cold Bay has no control tower; traffic works with the Flight Service Station on the common 123.6 MHz frequency for advisories. No published circuit heights or noise abatement procedures are given in the available material.
The airfield sits on the Alaska Peninsula adjacent to the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, with Cold Bay town immediately nearby. Mount Dutton lies some 16 miles east of the field and is a notable high terrain feature to be aware of in the vicinity, particularly on instrument approaches from the east.
The airport began life during the Second World War as Fort Randall Army Airfield, one of the United States Army Air Forces' bases built to defend the Aleutian chain, and its main runway - still the fifth-longest in Alaska - dates from this period. The base later became Thornbrough Air Force Base during the Cold War. Reeve Aleutian Airways operated scheduled services through Cold Bay for decades, flying Lockheed L-188 Electra and NAMC YS-11 turboprops nonstop to Anchorage from the 1970s, adding Electra service to Seattle in 1979, and introducing Boeing 727 combi jet service to Anchorage by 1989 before ceasing operations in 2000. The airfield has seen two notable accidents: on 8 September 1973 a World Airways Douglas DC-8 cargo flight crashed into Mount Dutton, 16 miles east of the airport, on an instrument approach, killing all six aboard; and on 8 June 1983 a Reeve Aleutian Airways Electra suffered a propeller separation shortly after takeoff, forcing the crew to divert to Anchorage as Cold Bay's runway was judged too short for a safe landing with the damaged aircraft. A persistent myth holds that Cold Bay was designated an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle, but NASA has confirmed this was never the case. A National Weather Service office, which launches radiosonde balloons twice daily, is co-located with the Flight Service Station on the field, and Cold Bay is recognised by the National Weather Service as the cloudiest city in the United States.
Cold Bay today serves as one of the main airports for the Alaska Peninsula, with scheduled passenger service provided by carriers including Aleutian Airways and Grant Aviation to destinations such as Anchorage, King Cove, Sand Point, False Pass and Nelson Lagoon, alongside daily air taxi operations. Alaska Central Express operates scheduled cargo flights from the field. Its long main runway also makes it a useful emergency diversion airport for passenger flights crossing the Pacific Ocean.
