Chalk's International Airlines, formerly Chalk's Ocean Airways, was an
airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
with its headquarters on the grounds of
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
Broward County
Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
near
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
.
It operated scheduled seaplane services to the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
. Its main base was
Miami Seaplane Base (MPB) until 2001, with a hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
On September 30, 2007, the
United States 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 and ...
revoked the flying charter for the airline,
and later that year, the airline ceased operations.
History
The airline was founded by Arthur Burns "Pappy" Chalk, and started ''ad-hoc'' charter operations as the Red Arrow Flying Service in 1917 flying a
floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
. After "Pappy" Chalk served in the
Army Air Service
The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...
in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he returned to Miami and commenced scheduled service between Miami and
Bimini
Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately west-northwest of Nassau. The populat ...
in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
in February 1919 as Chalk's Flying Service. Chalk's first base was a beach umbrella on the Miami shore of
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay () is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is la ...
. In 1926 a landfill island,
Watson Island
Watson Island is a neighborhood and man-made island in Biscayne Bay, in Miami, Florida. It is located Immediately east of the Central Business District and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods of downtown Miami and is connected to the ma ...
, was created in Biscayne Bay close to Miami. Chalk's built an air terminal there, and operated from the island for the next 75 years.
During
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
, Chalk's was a major source of alcohol
smuggled
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
from the Bahamas to the United States.
Pappy Chalk sold the airline to a friend in 1966,
but continued to be involved in the daily operations of the airline until he retired in 1975. He died in 1977 at the age of 88.
In the early 1970s, Frakes Aviation __NOTOC__
Frakes Aviation was founded by J. Fred Frakes in the late 1960s, and is located in Cleburne, Texas, United States. When founded, the company's main activity was converting radial engine powered airplanes to gas turbine engines. The compa ...
bought the rights to the aircraft and began a conversion program, replacing the old Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp
The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series ...
radial engines with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously upda ...
turboprops. By 1985 three of Chalk's eight Grumman Mallard
The Grumman G-73 Mallard is a medium, twin-engined amphibious aircraft. Many have been modified by replacing the original Pratt & Whitney Wasp H radial engines with modern turboprop engines. Manufactured from 1946 to 1951, production ended when ...
s had been converted, with five ex-military piston engined Grumman Albatross
The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large, twin–radial engined amphibious seaplane that was used by the United States Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), primarily as a search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. Origina ...
aircraft making up the balance of the fleet.
In 1974, Resorts International
Resorts International was a hotel and casino company. From its origins as a paint company, it moved into the resort business in the 1960s with the development of Paradise Island in the Bahamas, and then expanded to Atlantic City, New Jersey with ...
purchased Chalk's Airlines, which became the primary air carrier to Paradise Island near the Bahamian capital of Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, where Resorts International owned and operated hotels and other resort facilities. After Resorts International constructed a short take off and landing (STOL
A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...
) runway on Paradise Island and switched to using STOL-capable de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7
The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, d ...
turboprop aircraft operated by subsidiary Paradise Island Airlines
Paradise Island Airlines was an American airline that connected Florida with Paradise Island in the Bahamas in the 1990s. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the airline's two letter code was "BK".
Merv Griffin Enterprises' Resorts I ...
, it sold Chalk's in 1991 to United Capital Corporation, an Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
-based investment firm (which was not affiliated with United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. ).
The television show ''Miami Vice
''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...
'', a symbol of both Miami and the 1980s, featured a Chalk's seaplane in its opening credits. N2969, which had a fatal accident in 2005, is featured in an extended scene at the end of the third-season episode ''Baseballs of Death'', when the antagonist attempts to leave the US. The music video for George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
's "Careless Whisper
"Careless Whisper" is a song written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Released on the 1984 Wham! album ''Make It Big'', the single release was credited either to ''Wham! featuring George Michael'' (in North America and several other count ...
" and Miami Vice second-season episode ''One Way Ticket'' featured a Chalk's seaplane, N2974. In one of the final scenes of the motion picture '' Silence of the Lambs'', Dr Frederick Chilton is seen disembarking a Chalk's aircraft in Bimini, where Hannibal Lecter is waiting to "have him for dinner". A Chalks plane also makes an appearance at the end of the movie 'After The Sunset' with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek's characters embracing as they stand next to it. Chalk's fleet was as high-maintenance as it was glamorous. It was a unique carrier, its Watson Island base being the smallest port of entry in the United States. Chalk's revenues were about $7.5 million in 1986, when it carried 130,000 passengers. Most were staying at Resorts International properties, although island residents used the airline for shopping trips to Miami.
United Capital expanded Chalk's service to Key West, Florida
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...
, and Nassau and acquired additional aircraft, but struggled financially. In 1996, United Capital sold Chalk's to a group of investors, who operated the airline under the name Pan Am Air Bridge. In January 1998, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
-based aircraft lease company Air Alaska purchased 70% of Pan Am Air Bridge, but following the collapse of Air Alaska, Pan Am Air Bridge filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
only a year later on January 11, 1999. James Confalone, a businessman and former Eastern Airlines
Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Ea ...
pilot, purchased Chalk's out of bankruptcy for $925,000 on August 2, 1999; it had been reduced to two aircraft and only 35 staff. Confalone bought five additional Grumman Mallard seaplanes and arranged a contract to buy 14 larger Grumman G-111 seaplanes to expand the operation. On December 17, 1999, the airline was relaunched as Chalk's Ocean Airways.
In late 2001 following the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, Chalk's was forced to leave its longtime operations base on Watson Island due to security concerns over its proximity to the Port of Miami
The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the ...
. Helicopter traffic had also increased around Watson Island.[ Operations moved to ]Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, where Chalk's already had its maintenance base.
The airline suspended operations after the crash of Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 on December 19, 2005. It had planned to resume flights between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas under its earlier name of Chalk's International Airlines on November 9, 2006, but its airworthiness certificate issued by the Bahamas had expired. It resorted to using aircraft "wet lease
Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...
d" from and operated by Big Sky Airlines
Big Sky Airlines was an American commuter air carrier that operated from 1978 to 2008. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, United States. Big Sky was wholly owned by Big Sky Transportation Company, which in turn was a wholly owned subsidiary of M ...
to operate flights from Fort Lauderdale to Key West and to St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
. Chalk's added flights between Palm Beach International Airport
Palm Beach International Airport is a public airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, located just west of the city of West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, which it serves as the primary airport for. It is also the primary airport for most o ...
(PBIA) and destinations in the Bahamas in late May 2007, but carried only 14 passengers through PBIA that August.[
Chalk's ceased flying from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after September 3, 2007. After the final report from the Flight 101 crash investigation was released, the ]United States 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 and ...
revoked the airline's flying authority for scheduled service on September 30, 2007, effectively shutting down the airline. Chalk's continued to hold its FAR 121 operating with a part 298 authority in good standing, and sought to add 60-passenger regional jet
A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of th ...
s to its FAR 121 operating licence, but these efforts never came to fruition.
Chalk's had claimed to be the oldest continuously operating airline in the world, having begun operations in 1917 and scheduled flights in February 1919, and having only ceased operations for three years due to World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, two days due to 1992's Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...
, and eleven months due to an " at altitude tragedy" on December 19, 2005. The title of oldest operating airline is now given to KLM
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
of the Netherlands, founded later in 1919.
Fleet
During 2006 the airline leased conventional Beechcraft 1900
The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...
D turboprop commuter land planes from Big Sky Airlines
Big Sky Airlines was an American commuter air carrier that operated from 1978 to 2008. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, United States. Big Sky was wholly owned by Big Sky Transportation Company, which in turn was a wholly owned subsidiary of M ...
which were later replaced by Saab 340
The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...
A and other wet lease
Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...
d aircraft while working with the Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
to rebuild its fleet of Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
G-73T Turbine Mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
s.[
As of March 2007 the Chalk's International Airlines fleet comprised:]
*4 Mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
s (5 originally delivered but one crashed)
*2 Saab 340A
Saab or SAAB may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB
** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB
* Saab Automobile, a fo ...
The Saabs were chartered by Chalks from Bimini Island Air.
Incidents and accidents
* In 1994, Captain John Alberto and co-pilot Alan Turner drowned after their aircraft sank due to the failure of the airplane's bilge pump
A bilge pump is a water pump used to remove bilge water. Since fuel can be present in the bilge, electric bilge pumps are designed to not cause sparks. Electric bilge pumps are often fitted with float switches which turn on the pump when the bilge ...
while they were taxiing at Key West. Captain Alberto left behind a wife and two children. Jimmy Buffett
James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...
dedicated a chapter to Captain Alberto in his book '' A Pirate Looks At Fifty''.
* On December 19, 2005, Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini made an unscheduled stop at Watson Island, Miami.[ Within a minute of taking-off again, it fell into the sea near ]Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
. Witnesses said they saw smoke billowing from the plane and the separation of its right wing as it plunged into the ocean. None of the twenty people on boardeighteen passengers and two pilotssurvived. At first, only nineteen of the twenty bodies were found (by the Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
and Miami Beach Ocean Rescue); on December 23, 2005, the twentieth was found by two Miami-Dade firefighters while fishing on their day off. Investigators later identified cracks in the main support beam connecting the wing to the fuselage.Maintenance issues found at tiny airline
''USA Today'', June 22, 2006. The plane was a Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
G-73T Turbine Mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
, registration N2969, manufactured in 1947. It was the second fatal accident for Chalk's Ocean Airways. A few months after the NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
released its report on the crash, the airline shut down.
See also
* List of defunct airlines of the United States
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* List of seaplane operators
This is a list of seaplane operators. A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields ...
References
External links
Chalk's International Airlines
(archive)
{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed
Pan Am
Companies based in Broward County, Florida
Airlines established in 1917
Airlines disestablished in 2007
Defunct airlines of the United States
Defunct companies based in Florida
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999
Defunct seaplane operators
American companies established in 1917
2007 disestablishments in Florida
Airlines based in Florida