Allegheny County Airport (IATA: AGC, ICAO: KAGC, FAA LID: AGC) is in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, four miles (6 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. It is the fifth-busiest airport in Pennsylvania following Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Harrisburg. The airport is owned by the Allegheny County Airport Authority and is the primary FAA designated reliever airport for Pittsburgh International Airport. Allegheny County Airport was dedicated on September 11, 1931. When it was completed, it was third-largest airport in the country, as well as the only hard-surface airport in the country. It was historically the main entrance to metro Pittsburgh via air from its inception until June 1952, when the Greater Pittsburgh Airport (now Pittsburgh International Airport - KPIT) opened for commercial aviation. Like many historic municipal fields, Allegheny serves small and mid-sized private, corporate and commercial traffic well, but was not built to handle jet airliners.
The airport is popular among business travelers, being closer to downtown than Pittsburgh International Airport. It is much closer to the densely populated South Hills, Monroeville area and Monongahela Valley.
The airport had a Hollywood big screen moment in 2004's The Mothman Prophecies, serving as the small Point Pleasant, West Virginia airport where the governor and Richard Gere debate how serious the impending crisis is in the river town. Also the Airport and Terminal were used in the 1986 movie Gung Ho starring Michael Keaton.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Facilities
The main terminal was built on a former steel industry slag dump in 1931 by Stanley L. Roush, with later additions by Henry Hornbostel in 1936. Aiming for a more modern design for the building, it was designed in white brick with touches of black, silver, and green. Hornbostel continued with these colors for his additions. Above the stainless-steel canopy is a semi-hexagonal doorhead. To each side is an Art Deco urn with medallions containing images of flight by both humans and animals. The 1936 renovations bricked up all windows of the field to the restaurant and by the summer of 1936 it had long been known for the largest amount of runway paving in the world at a combined 50 miles, as well as being one of the largest fields in the world at 108 acres. Although it no longer services major commercial traffic, the airport can still accommodate aircraft up to the size of a DC-9.
Allegheny County Airport covers 432 acres (1.75 km2) and has two active runways and one helipad:
- Runway 10/28: 6,501 x 150 ft (1,982 x 46 m) Concrete
- Runway 13/31: 3,825 x 100 ft (1,166 x 30 m) Concrete
- Helipad H1: 47 x 45 ft (14 x 14 m) Concrete
County Police station
The airport has a small station currently operated by the Allegheny County Police Department as a local station and a base for airport security operations. The airport offices and flight schools are patrolled by private security companies who work closely with the County Police.
Security
The airport does not have any defined airport security checkpoint as most flights are private planes or company jets. Airlines are left to provide their own security inspection, if any. The way the airport building is laid out would make a checkpoint both impractical and hard to control.
Future Improvements
The Allegheny County Airport Authority has received $2 million from the federal stimulus bill for construction at the Allegheny County airport. The money will be used to renovate four taxiways. It will also be used to reconfigure aircraft apron areas. This will allow for future construction on aircraft maintenance hangars and ramp space associated for the maintenance areas. Construction was scheduled to begin July 20, 2009. The airport expected 40 new jobs to be created with the project but says it is the gateway for more jobs when the aircraft maintenance facility construction starts. The construction will help improve the layout of the airfield.
FBO Airlines
- Corporate Air LLC.
- Voyager Jet Center
Aviation schools
- Pittsburgh Flight Training Center
- Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics
Rental car
- Hertz Rental Cars
- Thrifty Car Rental*
Incidents
Historic Landmark status
In 1981, the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation added the Allegheny County Airport to their List of Historic Landmarks.
Notable visitors
Harold Gatty and Wiley Post visited the airport as it was finishing construction both from the ground and air and commented that it was the finest airport they had encountered.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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