Kirksville Regional Airport (IATA: IRK, ICAO: KIRK, FAA LID: IRK) is four miles south of Kirksville,[1] on the west side of US highway 63.[2] One airline schedules passenger flights, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Kirksville Regional Airport
IATA: IRK ICAO: KIRK FAA LID: IRK
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Kirksville
Serves	Kirksville, Missouri
Location	Pettis Township, near Millard
Elevation AMSL	966 ft / 294 m
Coordinates	40°05′36″N 092°32′42″W
Website
Map
IRK Show map of Missouri IRK Show map of the United States
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 18/36 6,005 1,830 Concrete 9/27 1,370 418 Turf
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft operations 5,625 Based aircraft 35
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 684 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[3] 926 in 2009 and 2,127 in 2010.[4] The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility (the commercial service category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year).[5]

Cape Air is the current airline, averaging 900 to 1,000 passengers per month[6] on three daily round trips to St. Louis Lambert International Airport[7]

History

This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2021)

Local resident Nick Sparling is credited as being Adair County's first aviator, in 1909.^{[citation needed]} In 1924, Roy B. "Cap" Dodson started the first airport in the area, located on the north edge of Kirksville.^{[citation needed]} However, an airfield at the present location of Kirksville Regional Airport wasn't created until 1930 when the Federal Aviation Administration built a series of emergency landing strips across the nation. With America's entry into World War II, the Kirksville Municipal Airport, as it had been declared in the late 1930s, received a major upgrade from the Civilian Pilots Training Program and the US Army Air Corps War Training Service.^{[citation needed]} In 1942 a paved all-weather landing strip, hangars, a control tower and small restaurant were built; the paved runway was 3870 ft until 1968.^{[citation needed]}

In 1960, Ozark Air Lines began scheduled flights.^{[citation needed]} The Ozark route began in Kansas City to Chicago with stops in Kirksville, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Moline, Illinois.^{[citation needed]} Airport improvements came after a bond issue was approved by Kirksville voters in 1967. A new six-thousand foot concrete runway was built, as well as a new terminal building and improved hangar facilities. The longer runway was needed for the faster Fairchild prop-jet that began flights to Kirksville in late 1968.^{[citation needed]} Also in the 1960s, Ozark switched Kirksville service from a Kansas City-Chicago route to a Des Moines-to-St. Louis one. With the airport improvements came a new name, Clarence Cannon Memorial Airport—chosen to honor long-time US Congressman Clarence Cannon of Missouri who had done much to help secure air service and funding for the airport.^{[citation needed]}

Ozark Airlines found flew their final route on April 23, 1976.^{[citation needed]} Fortunately a local pilot and dentist, Dr. Stephen Barber, has established a small commuter air service, Horizon Airways, in 1972.^{[citation needed]} Horizon was able to help fill the void left by Ozarks departure, eventually expanding to five aircraft and service to both Kansas City and St. Louis.[8][9]

Air Choice One began scheduled flight operations twice daily, to and from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport during July 2009.^{[citation needed]} Scheduled operations are currently subsidized by the Essential Air Service Act. Previously service was operated by Air Midwest (operating as US Airways Express) to Kansas City International Airport[10] and by RegionsAir (operating as American Connection) with flights to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. In September, 2010 Cape Air replaced Air Choice One.^{[citation needed]}

Facilities

The airport covers 476 acres (193 ha) at an elevation of 966 feet (294 m). It has two runways: 18/36 is 6,005 by 100 feet (1,830 x 30 m) concrete; 9/27 is 1,370 by 100 feet (418 x 30 m) turf.[1]

In the year ending June 30, 2010 the airport had 5,625 aircraft operations, average 15 per day: 62% general aviation, 21% airline, 13% air taxi, 4% military. 35 aircraft were then based at the airport: 83% single-engine, 11% multi-engine, and 6% helicopter.[1]

Airline and destination

This section does not cite any sources. (January 2022)

Scheduled passenger service:

Incidents

• On October 19, 2004, Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashed on approach to Kirksville. Thirteen individuals died and two sustained injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determined pilot error to be the cause of the accident.[11][12]
• On May 12, 2005 a Midwest Airlines Boeing 717 made an emergency landing at Kirksville Regional Airport after encountering icing and subsequent pilot induced loss of control.[13] To date it is the largest aircraft to have landed at Kirksville Airport.
• On November 5, 2013 American business executive Robert Groh, President of Geo-Syntheics, LLC, and an instructor pilot were killed when their plane crashed on final approach to Kirksville Regional Airport. The plane, a Piper PA-32 Saratoga, went down in a rural area of Adair County approximately 2.5 miles northeast of the runway shortly after a radio check-in with airport personnel. At that time the pilot reported no difficulties. The plane was on a cross-country flight from Centennial Airport near Denver, Colorado to Waukesha, Wisconsin, the home city for Geo-Syntheics.[14]

References

Other sources

External links

• Kirksville Regional Airport at City of Kirksville website
• Aerial image as of April 1995 from USGS The National Map
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective July 14, 2022
• FAA Terminal Procedures for IRK, effective July 14, 2022

• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for IRK
  • AirNav airport information for KIRK
  • ASN accident history for IRK
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures