Tuscola Airport is a privately owned public use
airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) southwest 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
Tuscola, a city in
Douglas County,
Illinois,
United States.
The airport is a major base for
crop-dusting aircraft in the area to support farms growing corn, soybeans, and other crops. The airport is home to an Illinois branch of Atlantic Ag Aviation. The airport received an
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
-approved chemical loading site in 2010 after being bought by its current owner.
Facilities and aircraft
Tuscola Airport covers an area of at an
elevation of 665 feet (203 m) above
mean sea level. It has one
runway designated 9/27 with a
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
surface measuring 2,660 by 30 feet (811 x 9 m).
For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2022, the airport had 8,700 aircraft operations, an average of 23 per day, all
general aviation. No
aircraft were based at the field at the time.
Accidents and incidents
* On October 20, 2008, a
Howard Super Sky Raider crashed while taking off from Tuscola Airport. During the takeoff roll, the aircraft started to "angle to the right." The pilot applied hard left rudder pedal, but the airplane continued to turn right and went off the right side of the 30-foot wide runway, and traveled about 35 feet into a cornfield. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's failure to maintain control during the takeoff roll.
* On July 15, 2009, a
Beechcraft S35 Bonanza overrran the runway while landing at Tuscola Airport. The pilot’s first attempt to land resulted in a
go-around because the airplane was too high and fast. During the second landing attempt, the airplane bounced and the pilot did another go-around. The plane was still too fast on the third attempt and touched down 1/3 or 1/2 way down the runway. The pilot applied the brakes, but the airplane went off the end of the runway. The pilot made a sharp left turn to avoid hitting a ditch head-on. The right main
landing gear and nose gear collapsed, and the right wing came to rest on the road. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's failure to maintain proper speed and distance during approach, which resulted in landing long and subsequent runway excursion.
See also
*
List of airports in Illinois
References
External links
Aerial image as of 27 March 1999from
USGS ''
The National Map''
{{US-airport-minor, K96
Airports in Illinois
Buildings and structures in Douglas County, Illinois
Aviation in Illinois
Transportation in Douglas County, Illinois