Chongqing Baishiyi Airport (), or Baishiyi Air Base, is a

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

base and formerly the main civil airport serving Chongqing, China, located about northwest of the city center. It reverted to military use after the opening of

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is located in Yubei District, Chongqing, China. The airport's IATA Airport code, CKG, is derived from the city's former romanized name, Chungking. Jiangbei airport is also a 128-hour transit visa-fre ...

on 21 January 1990.

History

During War of Resistance/World War II, the airport was known as Peishiyi (Paishihyi) Airfield (''Wades-Gile'')/Baishiyi (''Standard Pinyin''), and was the Chinese Air Force base for the

4th Pursuit Group The 4th Pursuit Group was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I as part of the Air Service, Second United States Army. It was demobilized in France on 15 April 1919. There is no modern United ...

composed primarily of

Polikarpov I-15 The Polikarpov I-15 (russian: И-15) was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (''russian: Чайка'', "Seagull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was ...

and I-16 fighter squadrons assigned for the defense of then-wartime capital of Chongqing; an I-15bis fighter of 21st PS, 4th PG piloted by Maj. Liu Zhesheng shot down a

Mitsubishi Ki-21 The ( Allied reporting name: "Sally" /"Gwen") was a Japanese heavy bomber during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War, including ...

heavy-bomber over Bashiyi air base on 6 June 1940. The airport was then used by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Fourteenth Air Force as the U.S. entered the war following the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. Baishiyi was a command and control base, being used late in the war as the headquarters of the

68th Composite Wing The 68th Composite Wing was a United States Army Air Forces organization. It was a command and control organization of Fourteenth Air Force that fought in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. The wing was formed as an expansion of the ...

, which controlled the combat operations of the 23d Fighter Group and the

308th Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. In addition

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

transport aircraft used the airport flying troops and supplies into the area as well as combat wounded to rear areas. The Americans remained at the airport after the war ended, the facility becoming the headquarters of the China Air Service Command, which supplied equipment and other logistical support to American and Chinese forces, along with being headquarters of Fourteenth Air Force. The American units began closing down in early 1946, with the last personnel of the 10th Weather Squadron departing the facility on 31 July 1946.

Former airlines and destinations

Between 1939 and 1949, Baishiyi airport had served destinations internationally and domestically, and was the third airport ever in China to be put to operation. Before 1990, it was a primary hub for

China Southwest Airlines China Southwest Airlines (CSWA, ) was an airline with its head office on the property of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Shuangliu County, Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China. On 28 October 2002, China Southwest Airlines was ...

Accidents and incidents

* On the night of 18 January 1988, China Southwest Airlines flight 4146, an Ilyushin Il-18 arriving from Beijing, crashes into a terrain 5 kilometers from the airport due to an inflight fire caused by an engine fire and explodes, killing 108 of its occupants.

References

External links

Airfields & Seaplane Anchorages China

USAFHRA Document Search – Peishiyi
{{authority control Airports in Chongqing Defunct airports in China Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in China Chinese Air Force bases Airports established in 1936 1936 establishments in China