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Main terminal on FAA road
Homer Airport covers an area of 1,040 acres (420 ha) at anelevation of 84 feet (26 m) abovemean sea level. It has onerunway designated 4/22 with a 6,701 x 150 ft (2,042 x 46 m)asphalt pavement,[1] and a facility forfloatplanes on nearby Beluga Lake.
TheFAA completed a new master plan for the airport in 2006, and expansion and safety improvements are ongoing.[2] The plan called for a new haul out area for floatplanes, a public-usehelipad, a building for managing rescue and firefighting operations based at the airport, and other general improvements.
Pacific Northern Airlines (PNA, the successor toWoodley Airways which began operations in Alaska in 1932) was serving the airport in 1950 withDouglas DC-3 service operated daily on a roundtrip routing ofAnchorage (ANC) - Homer -Kodiak, AK as well as a DC-3 flight operated four days a week on a roundtrip routing of Anchorage -Kenai, AK -Kasilof, AK -Ninilchik, AK - Homer.[7][8] By 1965, Pacific Northern was operating four engineLockheed Constellation propliners on all of its flights serving the airport with three flights operated every weekday on nonstop services to Anchorage, Kenai and Kodiak with the flight to Kenai continuing on to Anchorage.[9][10] Also in 1965, Pacific Northern was offering direct connecting Constellation service twice a day from Homer via Anchorage to itsBoeing 720 jetliner flights toSeattle (SEA).[11] In 1967,Western Airlines, a major air carrier based inLos Angeles, acquired Pacific Northern and continued to serve Homer following the merger of the two airlines with Lockheed Constellation flights nonstop twice daily to both Anchorage and Kodiak as well as twice weekly Constellation service nonstop toKing Salmon, AK.[12] In 1968, Western was offering direct connecting Constellation service from Homer via Anchorage to its Boeing 720 andBoeing 720B jetliner flights from ANC to Seattle (SEA),San Francisco (SFO) and Los Angeles (LAX).[13][14] Western was still serving Homer in 1970 and operated four engineLockheed L-188 Electra turboprops into the airport at one point; however, Western then ceased serving Homer during the early 1970s.[15][16][17]
According to theOfficial Airline Guide (OAG), during the late 1970s and early 1980sWien Air Alaska operatedBoeing 737-200 jet service from the airport primarily nonstop toAnchorage (ANC).[18][19] The June 15, 1979 Wien system timetable lists 737 jet flights operated twice a week from Homer nonstop to both Anchorage andKodiak, AK.[20][21] Wien had previously served Homer during the mid 1970s withFairchild F-27B turboprops but had ceased operating 737 jet service into the airport by early 1982.[22][23][24][25]
In the summer months, Beluga Lake is a very activefloatplane airport.
In November 1987, aBeechcraft 1900C operated byRyan Air Service Flight 103 (a local operator) with 22 passengers and crew, crashed while arriving from Kodiak, killing 18 and injuring four[26] due to overloading and a center of gravity too aft of specifications.[27]
In March 2006, agents from theUS Marshal service, in conjunction with local police, attempted to apprehend a violentmethamphetamine dealer, Jason Karlo Anderson, who had fled from charges inMinnesota. The suspect had rented a car at the Homer airport, and the rental agent assisted police in luring him back to the airport. Marshals were unaware that the entireHomer High School choir, over 100 students, would be departing for a trip at the same time as the setup. The suspect apparently panicked when he arrived and discovered so many people at the small airport, and a shootout ensued in the parking lot after marshals boxed in his car. Karlo committed suicide, but not before severely wounding his own infant son with a gunshot to the head.[28] The infant's mother, Cheryl Dietzmann, contested the finding that Anderson shot his own son and in February 2009 filed against the U.S. Marshals asking for $75 million in damages.[29] In July 2011 the Marshals settled with Dietzman for $3.5 million. An additional case against the individual Homer Police officers and the city of Homer[30] was concluded in March 2013, with a verdict that the officers did not in fact injure the children and may have actually saved their lives by shooting Anderson.[31]
A Cessna 206 crashed in Beluga Lake in Homer on landing, on July 10, 2012. Former Alaska state Rep.Cheryll Heinze died as a result of the crash. Four others were injured.[32]
In October 2013, a Beechcraft 1900C operated byEra Aviation experienced a landing gear failure and slid to a stop on its belly. No injuries were reported.[26]
The suspect arrested for murder in connection with theDisappearance of Anesha Murnane allegedly threw her cellphone into Beluga Lake.
^"Bear Viewing & Flightseeing, Homer Alaska".smokeybayair.com. Smokey Bay Air.Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved2 October 2022.We have the privilege to be based in beautiful Homer, Alaska, a small fishing village on Kachemak Bay. We are proud to provide daily service year-round to the villages of Seldovia, Port Graham and Nanwalek...
^Michael, Armstrong (18 March 2013)."Jury rules in favor of police".Homer News. Sound Publishing.Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved2 October 2022.
