Vieques Air Link (VAL, IATA code:V4) is a small

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

-based airline that links Vieques with Culebra and mainland

History

Operations began during 1965, with owner Osvaldo "Val" Gonzalez-Duriex piloting a plane with three passengers from Vieques to Humacao. A

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aircraft and another airplane were also acquired later, allowing the airline to serve

Isla Verde International Airport Isla or ISLA may refer to: Organizations * International Securities Lending Association, a trade association * International School of Los Angeles * International Bilingual School, later named International School of Los Angeles People * Isla ...

. In 1968, Vieques Air Link added a flight to St. Croix in the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

. In 1980 Fajardo Airport in

Fajardo Fajardo (, ) is a town and municipality -Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. Fajardo is the hub of much of the recreational boating in Puerto Rico and a popular launching port to Culebra, Vieques, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is ...

was built and Vieques Air Link started flights to the new airport immediately. In the 1980s the company increased the frequency of flights to

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

, Humacao and Culebra. In 1989, Vieques Air Link lost its entire fleet to

Hurricane Hugo Hurricane Hugo was a powerful Cape Verde tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread damage across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. Across its track, Hugo affected approximately 2 million peopl ...

. However, it soon acquired seven

Britten-Norman Britten-Norman (BN) is a privately owned British aircraft manufacturer and aviation services provider. The company is the sole independent commercial aircraft producer in the United Kingdom. Britten-Norman has so far manufactured and sold almost ...

Islanders and three Trislanders. In the 1990s VAL got into financial trouble. However, with the Vieques conflict, more and more

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants. Overview The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...

began flying Vieques Air Link every day to go to military camps to protest, and the police also had to fly their personnel and the people arrested in those areas on VAL planes at various times. Others, like political leaders

Ruben Berrios Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugu ...

and Fernando Martín, and the 2002 Miss Puerto Rico Carla Tricoli, who is a Viequense, have had pictures taken by the press aboard VAL planes while flying to Vieques, giving the airline a new wave of unpaid-for promotional attention. In addition, in June 2000, the airline made the cover of Islander News magazine, under the headline "Vieques Air Link: How To Survive a Hurricane", about the airline's fleet loss of 1989 and how it survived the potentially fatal financial disaster. In 2008, VAL added a new route between

Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport is a public airport on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. Because a large amount of Vieques's yearly revenue comes from the tourism industry, this airport plays an important part in the Vieques economy. For ...

(VQS) in Vieques and the new

José Aponte de la Torre Airport José Aponte de la Torre Airport is a public use airport owned by Puerto Rico Ports Authority and located from Ceiba, a coastal town in Puerto Rico. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which cat ...

(RVR) at the former

Roosevelt Roads Naval Base Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site operates today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport. History In 1919, future US President Franklin D. Roose ...

in Ceiba, shortening the flight between Vieques and the Puerto Rican mainland to seven or eight minutes in a Cessna Caravan.

Destinations

Vieques Air Link provides service at the following locations:

Fleet

*Cessna 402C 1 *Piper Aztec

Accidents and incidents

*December 21, 1971 – an Islander, N589JA, with 1 crew and 7 passengers crashed at Culebra airport. Upon landing, The aircraft bounced on landing. The pilot initiated a

go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unsta ...

over hills. The aircraft was unable to clear a house and crashed. *December 19, 1977 – an Islander, N862JA, crashed en route from St. Croix to Vieques when both engines stopped due to fuel exhaustion. The aircraft was ditched off Vieques. There were 9 passengers and a pilot on board. Five were killed and the aircraft was written off. *On January 26, 1980, a bomb was found on a Vieques Air Link plane that was about to be flown by Raul Mari Pesquera, son of Juan Mari Bras (in Spanish). *August 2, 1984 – an Islander, N589SA, operating as Vieques Air Link Flight 901A, crashed on initial climb out of Vieques en route to St. Croix. The Islander was overloaded by 600–700 pounds when it departed Vieques. Also, its centre of gravity was up to 5 inches behind the aft limit. After takeoff the left engine lost power. It lost altitude, banked abruptly to the left, nosed down and crashed into the ocean. It appeared that the fuel had been contaminated with water. On board were the pilot and 8 passengers, all were killed. *September 21, 1989 – the following Islanders were damaged beyond repair by

. **N112JC **N290VL **N457SA *November 19, 1999, N907VL, an Islander was damaged beyond repair at Anguilla Wallblake Airport by Hurricane Lenny. *On May 6, 2000, a Vieques Air Link pilot allegedly flew a company aircraft over Camp Garcia, a restricted US Navy area, on a scheduled flight an hour after protesters had been removed from the area by FBI agents and U.S. Marshals, resulting in the suspension of the pilot. *On June 2, 2020, 2 people died and one was seriously injured when a Vieques Air Link Piper Aztec crashed against two sailboats at San Juan Bay. It's not clear which of the two San Juan airports the flight was heading to. This marked the first incident involving fatalities for the airline in almost 36 years.

References

External links