Montauk Airport is a privately owned, public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located three

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

s (6 km) northeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Montauk, in Suffolk County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is included in the

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a ''

reliever airport A relief airport or reliever airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) requires additional capacity, on a long-term or temporary basis. Reliever a ...

''. The airport is located on East Lake Drive between

Lake Montauk Lake Montauk is a 900-acre (360 ha) artificial embayment in Montauk, New York that is home to the largest commercial and sporting fish fleets in the state of New York. History The lake was originally referred to on maps as Lake Wyandanch and com ...

and

Block Island Sound Block Island Sound is a strait in the open Atlantic Ocean, approximately wide, separating Block Island from the coast of mainland Rhode Island. On the west, it extends to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island, as well as Plum Isl ...

. It is the easternmost airport in New York State.

History

Montauk Airport was constructed in 1957 to improve access to the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

community, which was being developed as a summer resort. Perry Duryea Jr., a former pilot of the

Naval Air Transport Service The Naval Air Transport Service or NATS, was a branch of the United States Navy from 1941 to 1948. At its height during World War II, NATS's totaled four wings of 18 squadrons that operated 540 aircraft with 26,000 personnel assigned. Formation ...

, was one of the early partners of the corporation that developed the airport, and often piloted his own plane between Montauk and Albany while serving as a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

. The following year, regular flights were proposed between Montauk and

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

during the summer season for use by vacationers and sport fishermen. In 1961 there was attempt by Suffolk County to buy the airport and turn it into a county airport however the deal fell through. The small airport has been used by various celebrities visiting the

Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...

including

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

who was inspired to write a 1976 song Memory Motel based on an actual Montauk motel. He and

Bianca Jagger Bianca Jagger (born Blanca Pérez-Mora Macías; 2 May 1945)

had been staying at the estate of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

near Montauk. Other celebrities spotted at the airport included Sarah Ferguson,

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

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 ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

and

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

. In 2007, Montauk Airport received two grants from 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 install an

Automated Weather Observing System Airport weather stations are automated sensor suites which are designed to serve aviation and meteorological operations, weather forecasting and climatology. Automated airport weather stations have become part of the backbone of weather observing ...

to provide pilots with current weather conditions at the airport and a

Precision Approach Path Indicator A precision approach path indicator (PAPI) is a visual aid that provides guidance information to help a pilot to acquire and maintain the correct approach (in the vertical plane) to an airport or an aerodrome. It is generally located on the left- ...

to visually alert pilots if they are on the glidepath while preparing to land. An additional grant was received from the FAA in 2008 to install taxiway edge lights. The airport was bought by a new (undisclosed) buyer on June 14, 2022. East Hampton Town earlier had expressed interest in buying the airport. In July 2012 the airport was listed as for sale by descendants of the original owners including Duryea's son Chip with Douglas Elliman Real Estate agents Paul Brennan and Ronald White. The price of the property is $18 million. The airport sell East Hampton town (which owns the much bigger

East Hampton Airport Town of East Hampton Airport (prior to May 19, 2022 its name was East Hampton Airport and its codes were KHTO/HTO) is anairport located in Wainscott, New York, just west of the Village of East Hampton. The airport is owned and operated by the ...

15 miles west of the Montauk airport), Suffolk County, and the State of New York have all said they do not have the funds to buy the airport. They have said the airport would be legally required to remain an airport until 2019 since it had received an FAA grant in 2009. Under zoning requirements, it could be divided into six residential lots.

Facilities and aircraft

Montauk Airport covers an area of 40

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (16 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of 7 feet (2 m) above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

designated 6/24 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

surface measuring 3,246 by 75 feet (989 x 23 m). For the 12-month period ending September 10, 2010, the airport had 30,361 aircraft operations, an average of 83 per day: 83.5%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and 16.5%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

. At that time there were 12 aircraft based at this airport: 75% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

and 25% multi-engine.

Airlines and Destinations

Incidents

*On March 7, 2009, a

Cirrus SR22 The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine four- or five-seat composite aircraft built from 2001 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota. It is a development of the Cirrus SR20, with a larger wing, higher fuel capacity, and a more powerful, 310-horsep ...

went off the runway and burst into flames while practicing a takeoff from the Montauk Airport. The student pilot and instructor escaped from the aircraft without injuries. *On July 31, 2007, a Piper PA-28-181 crashed into trees at the Montauk Airport after aborting a landing and attempting a go-around. The pilot was uninjured and rescued by an airport employee and two people from a nearby beach. *On July 7, 2003, a Piper PA-34-200T crashed into the waters of

Big Reed Pond Big Reed Pond is a freshwater pond located in Montauk, New York on Long Island. A site including the pond, brackish marshland and natural sand dunes was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1973. The largely undeveloped pond is located ...

Montauk County Park Montauk County Park, formerly known as Theodore Roosevelt County Park, is located approximately east of Montauk, New York. The park is in size, running from Montauk Highway north to Block Island Sound and is bordered on the east by Montauk Poi ...

after taking off from the Montauk Airport, killing the pilot and two passengers. The men had gone out earlier in the evening on a fishing trip for

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has al ...

and were flying back to

Republic Airport Republic Airport is a regional airport in East Farmingdale, New York, located one mile east of Farmingdale village limits. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation ''reliever airpo ...

during the middle of the night. The plane was discovered the next morning by a family canoeing in the pond.

References

External links

* from

New York State DOT The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in t ...

* {{New York City Area Airports Airports established in 1957 East Hampton (town), New York Airports in Suffolk County, New York