Tom Madsen Airport / Unalaska Airport (Dutch Harbor)

USA / Alaska / Unalaska /
 airport, Second World War 1939-1945, United States Navy
FAA Identifier: DUT

Built in response to the growing hostilities of the Japanese, Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base was completed in September 1941. It was originally built to accommodate seaplanes and Catalina flying boats, or PBYs.

Dutch Harbor was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy on June 3, 1942, the day before the Battle of Midway. Shortly after the end of World War II, the US military abandoned their Dutch Harbor outposts. For decades afterwards, the buildings remained standing, generally abandoned. With the growth of the king crab fishery in the 1970s, many of these buildings were used as warehouses, bunkhouses, and family homes. In the late 1980s, the US government finally funded a cleanup of the derelict buildings, and the area was turned over for commercial use.

Added to the NRHP 4 Feb 1985, NRHP Reference #85002733.

Renamed by State of Alaska in 2002 to Tom Madsen Airport. The FAA refers to it as Unalaska Airport. Also known as Dutch Harbor Airport.

The airport runway is bordered on one side by a steep dropoff into the ocean and the side of a mountain on the other. Both ends drop off into open water.


focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=0665b38b-865b-4e3c-9fd4-...
focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=2704ba41-0107-4c07-8a9d-...
www.airnav.com/airport/PADU

Annotated aerial imagery:
www.alaska.faa.gov/fai/airports.htm#AkPen







FAA Live Webcams:
-- South: akweathercams.faa.gov/imageloop.php?cameraID=10047

-- Northwest: akweathercams.faa.gov/imageloop.php?cameraID=10046
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unalaska_Airport
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   53°53'55"N   166°32'40"W

Comments

  • January 2005 saw the last Boeing 737-200 regularly scheduled jet service into this, the shortest airport with regular jet service previously. The rides were exciting, and Alaska Airlines safety was superb. Now smaller planes make more frequent flights, and have a better percentage of arrivals, whereas the jets frequently had to return to Anchorage if unable to make visual contact with the field. The weather here would be headline news on CNN all year long for winds that make the news in the lower 48, so you hardly hear of it!
This article was last modified 9 years ago