Fall River Municipal Airport was in
Fall River
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
,
built between 1946 and 1951. The airport closed on February 18, 1996. The
FAA
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 ...
deemed the airport unsafe due to a large
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
next to the airport, causing many seagulls, which disrupted airport operations. Its
FAA
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 ...
code was FLR. The site of the airport is now an industrial park.
Northeast Airlines
Northeast Airlines was an American airline based in Boston, Massachusetts that chiefly operated in the northeastern United States, and later to Canada, Florida, the Bahamas, Los Angeles and other cities. It was acquired by and merged into Del ...
was discussed as a possible service provider to Fall River but it never happened. There was one attempt to have the city served by Mohawk Airlines but that failed too. The airport was built by The U.S. government as an "auxiliary" field associated with Quonset Naval Air Station and was once home to a few Massachusetts Air National Guard helicopters. From the early 1960s the city performed minimal maintenance. Runway lighting was marginally kept working by volunteer pilots who used the facility. There were attempts at revival but none achieved much success. In addition to the bird hazard from the landfill, numerous large apartment buildings were built nearby. Lack of security, including only rudimentary fencing, resulted in frequent vandalism to aircraft causing many owners to move to nearby New Bedford and Taunton (Massachusetts) airports.
References
Airports in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Defunct airports in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Fall River, Massachusetts
1951 establishments in Massachusetts
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