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Chicago Executive Airport (IATA: PWK, ICAO: KPWK, FAA LID: PWK), formerly Palwaukee Municipal Airport, is a public airport 18 miles (33 km) northwest of Chicago, in the village of Wheeling in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is owned by the City of Prospect Heights and the Village of Wheeling.[1][2]

Chicago Executive Airport
USGS aerial image
IATA: PWK ICAO: KPWK FAA LID: PWK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Prospect Heights and Village of Wheeling
Serves	Chicago
Location	Wheeling, Illinois
Elevation AMSL	647 ft / 197 m
Coordinates	42°06′51″N 087°54′06″W
Website	www.chiexec.com
Map
PWK Location of airport in Illinois Show map of Illinois PWK PWK (the United States) Show map of the United States
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 16/34 5,001 1,524 Asphalt 12/30 4,415 1,346 Asphalt 6/24 3,677 1,121 Asphalt
Statistics
Aircraft operations (2014) 77,321 Based aircraft (2017) 194
Source: FAA,[1] airport website[2]

The airport logs over 77,000 take-offs and landings each year and is the fourth busiest airport in Illinois.[3]

History

The airport opened in 1925 as Gauthier's Flying Field. It was named Pal-Waukee in November 1928, from its location near the intersection of Palatine Road and Milwaukee Avenue. In 1953 the airport was purchased by George J. Priester, who developed the airport over the next 33 years, installing paved runways, lighting, hangars and an air traffic control tower. In 1986 George's son Charlie negotiated the sale of the airport to Wheeling and Prospect Heights and it was renamed Palwaukee Municipal Airport.[3][4][5]

Charlie Priester kept an FBO at the airport along with a charter company called Priester Aviation. Priester sold the FBO to Signature Flight Support in 2001, and turned over operational control of Priester Charter to his son Andy in 2004.

In August 2006, trustees from the village of Wheeling and alderman from the City Council of Prospect Heights voted to approve a name change. On October 17, 2006 Palwaukee Municipal Airport was renamed Chicago Executive Airport.

In October 2015, Cincinnati based Ultimate Air Shuttle announced plans to begin service from the airport to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in January or February 2016.[6]

Sally Strempel, a female pioneer in aviation, bought a flight school in 1950 at Palwukee Airport. She renamed it Sally's Flying School and retained it until 1966. Strempel was a member of the Illinois Aviation Hall of Fame [7] and was the first woman in Illinois and one of the first five nationally to be designated by the Federal Aviation Administration as a flight instructor, who could give private and commercial exams to student pilots.

Facilities

The airport covers 411 acres (166 ha) at an elevation of 647 feet (197 m). It has three asphalt runways: 6/24 is 3,677 by 50 feet (1,121 x 15 m); 12/30 is 4,415 by 75 feet (1,346 x 23 m); 16/34 is 5,001 by 150 feet (1,524 x 46 m).[1]

For the year ending March 31, 2022 the airport had an average of 296 aircraft movements per day, or about 108,040 per year: 80% general aviation, 20% air taxi and less than 1% military and commercial. For the same time frame, there are 296 aircraft based at this airport: 126 single-engine, 68 jet, 20 multi-engine, and 2 helicopter.[1][8]

The airport can handle executive jets in the 20-seat range, such as the Grumman Gulfstream and the Bombardier Challenger, and larger aircraft occasionally visit. Occasional military transport aircraft, such as the Lockheed C-130, use the airport when carrying service members to local facilities such as Great Lakes Naval Training Center or the North Chicago V.A. Hospital.

Tenants of the airport include three national fixed-base operators, Atlantic Aviation, Signature Flight Support, and Hawthorne Global Aviation, Services who provide fueling and handling for transient aircraft and a significant portion of the locally based aircraft. Priester Air Charter, Palwaukee Flyers, and several smaller firms and aircraft operators are also present.

In 2007 Chicago Executive's management created a public viewing area east of the south end of Runway 16-34 along Palatine Frontage Road, with lighted parking, a picnic table, and bleacher seating. A bulletin board has a copy of the current FAA chart, posters for events and educational information. The area is open 24/7.

Accidents and incidents

• October 30, 1996, a twin engine Gulfstream IV business jet with three crew members and one passenger lost control upon takeoff and crashed immediately to the north of the airport. All four aboard perished.[9]
• January 30, 2006, an eight-seat twin engine Cessna 421B with four passengers crashed about one mile (1.6 km) south of the airport. The aircraft was heading from Kansas to Palwaukee. There were no survivors.[10]
• January 5, 2010 a Learjet 35A crashed into the Des Plaines River in the Cook County Forest Preserve about a mile south of the airport while on final approach. The jet, operated by Royal Air Freight Inc. of Waterford, Michigan, was empty at the time of the crash. The pilot and co-pilot were killed.[11][12]
• November 28, 2011, a Piper PA-31 crashed on approach to Chicago Executive Airport. The aircraft was operating as a medical transport plane. The pilot, the patient, and the patient's wife were killed in the crash. Two other people on board survived.[13] NTSB investigators determined the accident to be caused by "the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and in-flight decision-making, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion during approach."[14] The pilot's decision to operate the aircraft after using marijuana was also cited as a contributing factor in the crash.[15]
• August 12, 2021, a Robinson R-44 helicopter crashed while taking off from Executive. The pilot reported their engined revved and shut down under 300 feet over the ground, and the aircraft crashed on Milwaukee Avenue. The sole pilot onboard received minor injuries. The accident is under investigation.[16][17][18][19]
• On November 21, 2021, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk operated by a local flight school veered off the runway while landing and came to rest on an infield next to the runway. The sole pilot onboard was not injured. Damage was reported to the plane's propeller and nose wheel in addition to a reported fuel leak.[20][21][22][23]
• On June 30, 2022, a Cessna Citation Sovereign struck multiple parked aircraft while trying to taxi along Executive's Taxiway F. Substantial damage to aircraft involved was reported, but there were no injuries.[24]

References

Other sources

External links

• Aerial photo as of April 2002 from USGS The National Map
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective July 14, 2022
• FAA Terminal Procedures for PWK, effective July 14, 2022
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for PWK
  • AirNav airport information for KPWK
  • ASN accident history for PWK
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures

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