Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport (formerly known as Lone Star Executive Airport and Montgomery County Airport) is a 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 surfa ...

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2021, the population was 98,081, up from 56,207 in 2010. Since 2007, the ...

, United States, 37 miles (60 km) north 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 ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

. It is publicly owned by Montgomery County.

History

Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport was constructed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to serve as a military facility, but was converted in 1945 to be a predominantly civilian airfield.

Facilities

Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport covers an area of which contains two concrete

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 ...

s: 14/32 with dimensions of 7,501 x 150 ft (1,829 x 46 m); and 1/19 of 5,000 x 100 ft (1,524 x 30 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2016, the airport had 63,269 aircraft operations, an average of 173 per day: 92%

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 ...

, 5%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and 3%

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) ...

. At that time there were 306 aircraft based at this airport: 214 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 ...

, 29 multi-engine, 36 jet, 3

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

and 24

. There are currently two

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instructio ...

s at the airport. The United States Army maintains a base at the airport, called the Conroe United States Army Reserve Center. The 1st Battalion,

158th Aviation Regiment The 158th Aviation Regiment is an aviation regiment of the United States Army. It traces its heritage to the 158th Aviation Battalion. Company A, 158th Aviation Battalion, was activated in the Regular Army on 25 July 1968 at Fort Carson, Colorad ...

is stationed at the base.

Accidents and incidents

*On April 30, 1988, Cessna Bird Dog N3946L was destroyed following a crash on takeoff from Runway 01. After the conclusion of a local airshow, the pilot (also a flight instructor for the Conroe FBO General Aviation Services) occupied the front seat and executed a maximum performance

chandelle The ''chandelle'' is an aircraft control maneuver where the pilot combines a 180° turn with a climb.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 102. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. stalled ''Stalled'' is a 2013 British zombie comedy film directed by Christian James. It stars Dan Palmer, who also wrote the screenplay, as a man confined to a bathroom stall after zombies attack. Produced by Richard Kerrigan and Daniel Pickering, the f ...

at low altitude. The aircraft impacted the runway almost vertically and was consumed by post-crash fire. The pilot, Carl A. Pickering III, was killed and his passenger, who was trapped in the burning wreckage, suffered disfiguring burns over his whole body. The pilot had performed the same maneuver during the airshow but at that time the plane was much lighter as he was the sole occupant and the plane was carrying minimum fuel. A road on the airport grounds is named in his memory. *On September 16, 1990, Lockheed PV2 "Fat Cat" N7428C, caught fire and was destroyed during taxi operations prior to departing for Lafayette Regional Airport KLFT. All four occupants evacuated safely. It was determined that the right engine starter solenoid failed to open after engine start and continued to be driven by the engine until it overheated and caught fire. Due to its location near fuel, oil, and hydraulic lines, the fire quickly spread throughout the engine nacelle and right wing, igniting a main fuel tank. At the time there was no on-site emergency personnel or equipment so the fire went uncontrolled for some time and the aircraft was a total loss. *In the early morning hours of June 12, 1994, a fire destroyed the hangar and offices of the FBO General Aviation Services. The hangar, built by the US Navy in 1943, was the largest structure on the airport at the time. The fire destroyed 19 airplanes including 11 warbirds. While suspicious circumstances surrounded the fire, it was determined that faulty wiring was the cause, as much of the original wiring was still in use. *On June 20, 1996,

Douglas DC-3A 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 versi ...

N23WT of Loren Davis Ministries International was destroyed in a crash at

Cut and Shoot, Texas Cut and Shoot is a city in eastern Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about east of Conroe and north of Houston. Until 2006, Cut and Shoot was considered and called a town. Then, the town council elected for it to be considered and refer ...

. The aircraft was on a training flight from Conroe Airport when an engine failure occurred. The co-pilot did not hear the call to feather the propeller on the affected engine. The aircraft flew into a tree, hit power lines and was destroyed in the subsequent fire. A witness stated that the aircraft was lifted off with insufficient airspeed. The crew also attempted to fly the aircraft at an incorrect airspeed following the engine failure. *On September 19, 2014, a

NetJets NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells fractional ownership shares in private business jets. Founded as Executive Jet Airways in 1964, it was later renamed Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets became the first private business jet chart ...

-operated

Embraer Phenom 300 The Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 is a single-pilot-certified light business jet developed by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. It can carry up to 11 occupants. Development Embraer began designing the Phenom 300 after finding that pot ...

arriving from

Nashville International Airport Nashville International Airport is a public/military airport in the southeastern section of Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1937, its original name was Berry Field, from which its ICAO and IATA identifiers are derived. The ...

slid off the runway. The area had recently been inundated by the remains of

Hurricane Odile Hurricane Odile is tied for the most intense landfalling tropical cyclone in the Baja California Peninsula during the satellite era. Sweeping across the peninsula in September 2014, Odile inflicted widespread damage, particularly in the ...

. Neither the pilot nor the co-pilot were hurt.

References

External links

{{Greater Houston Airports Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Texas Airports in Greater Houston Transportation in Montgomery County, Texas Conroe, Texas