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Fremont Airport

Fremont Airport is a public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) southwest of the central business district of Fremont, a city in Sandusky County, Ohio, United States. It is privately owned by Fremont Airport LLC.

History

A contest was held to name the airport and in July 1962 and Progress Field was selected as the winner.

It was claimed that a candidate for county commissioner and the owner of the airport, Gene Damschroder, misrepresented the situation at the airport in a letter to the newspaper the News-Messenger in April 1990.

The airport was at one point under consideration to be the site of the Sandusky County Regional Airport, but was dismissed in 1988 due to insufficient room for a runway.

In opposition to the construction of a new airport, Damschroeder proposed building a new diagonal runway in January 1994. Two months later, the Woodbridge Corporation, a local company, announced that its business jets would stop landing at the airport due to concerns the existing runway was too short to be safe.

Damschroeder bought acres to the north of the airport in April 1996. He claimed this was to build a larger apron to park business jets, but also suggested the land could be used to extend the north–south runway to a length greater than that at the Sandusky County Regional Airport then under construction.

In 2023, a Radiological Field Monitoring Emergency Phase exercise was carried out at the airport to help authorities prepare for radiological emergencies. In early 2024, thieves broke into the airport and stole tools out of multiple hangars. Hangar repairs were required.

Facilities and aircraft

Fremont Airport covers an area of at an elevation of 663 feet (202 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 9/27 is 4,137 by 60 feet (1,261 x 18 m) with an asphalt pavement; 18/36 is 2,238 by 130 feet (682 x 40 m) with a turf surface.

The airport has a fixed-base operator that sells avgas. Services include general maintenance, ground power, hangars, and courtesy transportation. Amenities include internet, vending machines, pilot supplies, a crew lounge, and snooze rooms.

For the 12-month period ending August 16, 2013, the airport had 38,450 aircraft operations, an average of 105 per day: 96% general aviation, 4% air taxi and <1% military. At that time there were 67 aircraft based at this airport: 82% single-engine and 12% multi-engine airplanes as well as 6% ultralight.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 13 September 1987, a Beechcraft Musketeer crashed shortly after taking off from the airport, injuring the pilot and six passengers.
  • On February 24, 2008, a Shaffer KR-2 experienced an engine failure just after takeoff from the Fremont Airport. The pilot reported a wheels-up landing and reported no mechanical malfunctions that could have precluded normal operation, though the weather conditions at the time were found to be ripe for carburetor icing.
  • On 8 June 2008, a Cessna 206 Stationair crashed while maneuvering to land at the Fremont Airport. After a 30 minute flight carrying passengers in support of a local flying club, witnesses reported that the aircraft was flying at low altitude towards the runway before banking, descending, and impacting the ground. One witness said the aircraft appeared to be on the edge of an aerodynamic stall, while another heard the engine rev up just before the descent. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control for an undetermined reason, which resulted in an inadvertent stall; contributing was the pilots macular degeneration, for which he had received treatment over the past two years.
  • On May 10, 2017, a Piper PA-23 Aztec crashed while landing at the Fremont Airport. The pilot was using an RNAV instrument approach to help with vertical guidance to the runway, but as he crossed an adjacent highway, he hit a semitruck passing through the flight path. The aircraft continued for landing, but as it touched down, its main landing gear collapsed. The aircraft subsequent veered off the left side of the runway.

See also

References

External links