Laurence G. Hanscom Field | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / military | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Bedford,Massachusetts | ||||||||||||||
| Opened | June 26, 1941 (84 years ago) (1941-06-26) | ||||||||||||||
| Focus city for | Tailwind Air Service | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-05:00:00) | ||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-04:00:00) | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 132 ft / 40 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°28′12″N071°17′20″W / 42.47000°N 71.28889°W /42.47000; -71.28889 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www.hanscomfield.com | ||||||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||||||
 FAA airport diagram as of January 2021 | |||||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Laurence G. Hanscom Field | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||||||
Laurence G. Hanscom Field (IATA:BED,ICAO:KBED,FAALID:BED), commonly known asHanscom Field, is a public useairport operated by theMassachusetts Port Authority, located 14 mi (12 nmi; 23 km) outsideBoston inBedford,Massachusetts,United States.[1]
Hanscom is mainly ageneral aviation airport, the largest in New England. Both runways can accommodate jets, and are used byHanscom Air Force Base, a defense-research facility next to Hanscom Field. It is a popular training airport, with more than 40 rental aircraft on the field. The Civil Air Terminal building hosts two flight schools. Transient general aviation planes are served by threeFBOs:Jet Aviation,Atlantic Aviation, andSignature Aviation.
It is also used sometimes by theBoston Bruins,Boston Celtics andBoston Red Sox, instead ofLogan International Airport, for their charter flights to and from away contests.
Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 10,956 passenger boardings (enplanements) incalendar year 2017.[2] It is in theNational Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025, in which the FAA categories it as anon-primary commercial service airport (between 2,500 and 10,000 enplanements per year).[3]
The field serves aircraft fromPiper Cubs toGulfstream V jets. The events ofSeptember 11 caused a number of changes to general aviation in the US (seeAirport security repercussions due to the September 11 attacks). Hanscom Field saw changes implemented by Massport that included security fees, identification cards, and a requirement for propeller locks.
Hanscom Field covers 1,125 acres (455 ha; 4.55 km2) at anelevation of 132 ft (40 m) abovemean sea level.
In the year ending September 30, 2021 the airport had 99,961 aircraft operations, an average of 274 per day: 81%general aviation, 18%air taxi, less than 1%military and less than 1%scheduled commercial. In April 2022, there were 252 aircraft based at this airport: 146 single-engine, 20 multi-engine, 75jet and 11helicopter.[1]
In 2008, and many years prior, Hanscom had handled the second most aircraft movements of any airport in New England afterBoston-Logan. On a nice weekend day the traffic pattern gets so busy the tower is known to close the traffic pattern and only allow full stop landings.
Hanscom Field's traffic is primarily business jets and general aviation aircraft. The airport is served by a FAA control tower which operates between the hours of 7:00 am (-05:00) to 11:00 pm (-05:00). Massport assesses a nighttime field use fee for takeoffs or landings conducted outside of the tower operating hours.
Under Massport regulations adopted in 1980 (Part F of the General Rules and Regulations for Laurence G. Hanscom Field), scheduled commercial operations are limited to aircraft with up to 60 seats.[4]
Shuttle America, aConnecticut-basedregional airline, operated scheduled service from the airfield from 1999 until 2004, carrying more than 10,000 passengers each month to Buffalo, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; New York LaGuardia; Trenton, New Jersey; and Greensboro, North Carolina, usingDe Havilland Dash 8-300 aircraft. In 2001 Shuttle America became aUS Airways Express feeder carrier on behalf ofUS Airways providing service to Philadelphia and Trenton until service ended in 2004.De Havilland Dash 8 andSaab 340 aircraft were used in the latter years.
Boston-Maine Airways, dbaPan Am Clipper Connection began servicing the airport in 2002 usingJetstream 31 aircraft. Clipper flights connected Hanscom Field withPease Airport inPortsmouth, New Hampshire, andTrenton–Mercer Airport in New Jersey. In its final years, Clipper added flights from Hanscom toIthaca-Tompkins Regional Airport inCentral New York. Even with this new route, Clipper could never draw the numbers it needed to remain profitable. The airline was forced to cease operation in 2008 by the FAA for lack of funding and management. That left Hanscom Field without scheduled airline service for the first time in a decade.
In 2011,Trenton-based airlineStreamline Air began its first public charter route to Hanscom using 30-seatEmbraer EMB 120 Brasilia aircraft, beginning with two daily round trips on weekdays. Streamline ceased operations on September 15, 2012.[5]
In the spring of 2021,Southern Airways Express announced that they were replacing theirHyannis-Nantucket route with a Bedford/Hanscom Field-Nantucket route beginning May 26, 2021. This was the first scheduled passenger service out of Hanscom Field in almost a decade.
| Airlines | Destinations | Refs |
|---|---|---|
| AirNet | Baltimore-Martin State,Buffalo,Cleveland–Cuyahoga,Cincinnati,St. Louis–Spirit | [6] |
On 8 August 1962, aU.S. Air ForceBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker, a modified former tanker, crashed on approach to Hanscom Field's runway 11, destroying the aircraft and killing all three members of the flight crew.[7]
In September 1964,The Beatles arrived at Hanscom Field aboard a chartered aircraft during one of their American concert tours. They were making an appearance atBoston Garden the following day. It was felt that the immense popularity of the British singing group would cause congestion at Boston-Logan International Airport, so this alternative airport was selected.[8]
On 24 November 1988,George Koskotas, who fledGreece after being indicted on five counts of forgery and embezzlement for theKoskotas scandal, was apprehended by theFBI at Hanscom Field after landing in a private jet with his family.[9]
On 31 May 2014, a privateGulfstream IVbusiness jetcrashed and caught fire beyond the end of runway 11 following an aborted take off from Hanscom Field, killing all seven people on board. A preliminaryNTSB report suggests that theflight controls were locked, preventing the aircraft from rotating to take off.[10]Lewis Katz, co-owner of thePhiladelphia Inquirer, thePhiladelphia Daily News, andPhilly.com, was among the dead.[11][12]
On June 2, 2017, actorHarrison Ford landed at Hanscom prior to spending the weekend in Boston.[13]
