Sacramento Executive Airport is a public airport three miles (5 km) south of downtown

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, in

Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. The airport covers and has two lit runways and a

helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...

History

When it opened in 1930 Executive Airport was known as Sutterville Aerodrome. As the city-owned facility expanded, in 1941 construction was under way to pave and extend the airport's three runways. The U.S. Army Air Corps took over the airport during World War II; after the war, control returned to the city and the facility was renamed Sutterville Auxiliary Field. The airfield was used by 4th Air Force and the Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command. Training was first on

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

, as Chico Army Airfield auxiliary field. On April 7, 1945, training switched to heavy bomber with the 404th and 405th Army Air Force. The US made many improvements to the airfield. After the war the Sacramento Army Air Field returned to its owner, the City of Sacramento, and was renamed Sacramento Municipal Airport. In the late 1940s and early 1950s more improvements were made to parking and taxiway paving, water and sewer systems, and runway/taxiway lighting. The terminal building was built in 1955 along with some navigational aids and T-hangars. In October 1967 most airlines moved to the new

Sacramento International Airport Sacramento International Airport is located northwest of Downtown Sacramento in Sacramento County, California, United States and covers . It serves the Sacramento Metropolitan Area, and it is run by the Sacramento County Airport System. The ...

and the Sacramento Municipal Airport was renamed Sacramento Executive Airport.

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

s began flying nonstop to Los Angeles in 1946, but nonstops from SAC never reached north beyond

Medford, OR Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the M ...

or east beyond

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. Jet service flown by United with

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter f ...

s and

Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and N ...

Boeing 720B The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was i ...

s appeared in 1964. In the airport's last summer of airline operations, the August 1967

Official Airline Guide OAG is a global travel data provider with headquarters in the UK. The company was founded in 1929 and operates in the USA, Singapore, Japan, Lithuania and China. It has a large network of flight information data including schedules, flight sta ...

( OAG) lists 22 weekday nonstops to San Francisco (

SFO San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle ...

), eleven nonstops to Los Angeles, seven nonstops to Reno, two flights to Medford, two flights to Marysville, and one flight each to Lake Tahoe, Klamath Falls and Oakland.

Pacific Air Lines Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline (then called a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid 1940s under the name ...

flights to the north continued to Chico, Eureka/Arcata, Crescent City and Portland. Pacific Air Lines flight 771 operated with a

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

flew a multistop "

milk run The phrase milk run originated in World War II, when United States Army Air Corps and Royal Air Force aircrews used it to describe a mission with little danger. Other sources show the term "milk run" to be in use in rural areas of the American Upp ...

" schedule: Reno-Lake Tahoe-Sacramento-San Francisco-San Jose-Fresno-Bakersfield-Burbank-Los Angeles-San Diego.

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

flight 224 operated with a

flew San Francisco-Sacramento-Reno-Denver-Chicago-New York

La Guardia 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. ...

. Aircraft included

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G ( ...

s and

s operated by Pacific Air Lines),

Lockheed L-188 Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensiv ...

s operated by

Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...

(PSA) as well as

s operated by PSA and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

, and

s operated by Western with one B720B nonstop a day to

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

. In October 1967 the airlines moved to the new Sacramento Metropolitan Airport (SMF) and Sacramento Municipal Airport was renamed Sacramento Executive Airport. The County of Sacramento became the operator of both airports. According to the OAG, Sierra Mountain Airways, a small commuter air carrier, was operating scheduled passenger service into the airport in late 1988 with

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. Two hundred and forty-five were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 19 ...

turboprop aircraft with flights from Fresno, Oakland, Reno and other destinations. Executive Airport is self-supporting, receiving no city, county, or tax money. All operating expenses are paid by users.

1972 Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Crash

On September 24, 1972, a former military Canadair Sabre Mk. 5 jet in civil ownership with US registration N275X was set to perform an air display at the Golden West Sport Aviation Show. Due to pilot error, the airplane failed to become airborne, went off the end of the runway, across a road and crashed into

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour was an American ice cream parlor and sandwich chain that was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1963. The chain became defunct following the closure of its last location in Brea, California, in 2019. History Farrell's ...

. The explosion killed 22, twelve of those children, and injured 28 more people. The tragedy prompted closure of that runway, stricter regulations at the airport, and the opening of the Sacramento Firefighter's Burn Institute. The Crossroads shopping center that housed the ice cream parlour was closed and rebuilt in 2002 as the Sacramento Public Safety Center, which is the main center for the

Sacramento Fire Department The Sacramento Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Sacramento, California. The department was first organized on February 5, 1850. It was not until March 30, 1872, when it finally became the fi ...

and

Sacramento Police Department The Sacramento Police Department (SPD) is the police department for the city of Sacramento, California. On August 11, 2017, Daniel Hahn was sworn in and became the city's first African American police chief. History The founding of the City of S ...

. A memorial was built at the crash site and dedicated in March 2003.

1987 Crash

On January 13, 1987, a single-engine airplane crashed shortly after taking off from Sacramento Executive Airport in gusty winds, killing four people.

Facilities

In addition to an

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 ...

tower, the airport has two paved, lighted runways and has tie-downs and hangar rentals. In 2004, aircraft operations averaged 370 per day. Over 20 businesses are located at Executive: air charters; aircraft sales, rentals and repairs; flight training; pilot supplies; computer-based testing; and car rentals. 10 minutes from downtown Sacramento, Executive is close to tourist attractions such as

Old Sacramento Old Sacramento State Historic Park occupies around one third of the property within the Old Sacramento Historic District of Sacramento, California. The Old Sacramento Historic District is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. The Historic ...

, the State Capitol, Cal Expo State Fairgrounds, and

Golden 1 Center Golden 1 Center is an indoor arena, located in downtown Sacramento, California, United States. It sits partially on the site of the former Downtown Plaza shopping center. The publicly owned arena is part of a business and entertainment district ...

(new arena of the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

). The airport is near three public golf courses and major shopping areas. Executive has two lighted runways: Runway 2/20 is 5,503 ft x 150 ft. (It was 6000 feet when the airlines were there.) Runway 2 has a Medium Intensity Approach Light System with Runway Alignment Indicator Lights (

MALSR An approach lighting system (ALS) is a lighting system installed on the approach end of an airport runway and consisting of a series of lightbars, strobe lights, or a combination of the two that extends outward from the runway end. ALS usually ...

), while

REIL Runway end identifier lights (REIL) (ICAO identifies these as Runway Threshold Identification Lights) are installed at many airports to provide rapid and positive identification of the approach end of a particular runway. The system consists of a ...

and PAPI are on Runway 20 and Runway 12/30. Runway 16/34 was closed in September 2017 and marked permanently closed as of February 13, 2019. The FAA contract control tower operates 06:00–21:00 (local). Fuel is available from trucks or 24-hour self-serve credit card pumps, and plenty of tie-down and transient parking is available, the first six hours being free. Automobile parking in front of the terminal is plentiful, and free for the first 72 hours. Amenities include:About Executive Airport
/ref> * Pilot's lounge * SACjet terminal with available meeting rooms * Executive Airport terminal with available meeting rooms * Disabled access, accommodations, and services throughout the facilities * Restaurant in the terminal building * Self-serve 100 LL Avgas,

Jet A Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial a ...

, tie-downs, hangar space, FBO and line services * Contract control tower 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (

Serco Serco Group plc is a British company with headquarters based in Hook, Hampshire, England. Serco primarily derives income as a contractor for the provision of government services, most prominently in the sectors of health, transport, justice, i ...

) * Free, short-term (72-hour) auto parking Restaurants
Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Aviators overlooks the airfield and can hold up to 190 people. It is available for banquet use and other events.

Cargo carriers

References

External links

Executive Airport (SAC)
(official Sacramento County Airport System site) * * {{Authority control 1941 establishments in California Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California Airports in Sacramento County, California Transportation in Sacramento, California Airports established in 1941

History

1972 Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Crash

1987 Crash

Facilities

Cargo carriers

See also

References

External links