Aero Country Airport

Aero Country Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Aero Country Property Owners Association[1]
Serves McKinney, Texas
Location 255 Aero Country Rd, McKinney, TX 75071[2]
Elevation AMSL 765 ft / 233 m
Coordinates 33°12′31″N 096°44′31″W / 33.20861°N 96.74194°W / 33.20861; -96.74194Coordinates: 33°12′31″N 096°44′31″W / 33.20861°N 96.74194°W / 33.20861; -96.74194
Website https://aero-country.herokuapp.com/
Map
T31
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 4,352 1,326 Asphalt/Turf
Statistics (2015)
Aircraft operations 9,000
Based aircraft 244
Sources: Federal Aviation Administration[3] except as noted

Aero Country Airport (FAA LID: T31) is a privately owned public airport in McKinney, Collin County, Texas, United States, located approximately 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) west of the central business district.[3][4] The airport has no IATA or ICAO designation.[5]

The airport is used solely for general aviation purposes.

Aero Country previously used the FAA LID of TX05 until at least July 1997. The FAA LID of T31 was previously used for Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport in Port Isabel, Texas until at least July 1992.[N 1]

Facilities

Aero Country Airport covers 36 acres (15 ha) at an elevation of 765 feet (233 m) above mean sea level (AMSL), and has one runway:

  • Runway 17/35: 4,352 x 60 ft. (1,326 x 18 m), Surface: Asphalt/Turf[3]

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2015, the airport had 9,000 aircraft operations, an average of 25 per day: 100% general aviation. At that time there were 244 aircraft based at this airport: 90% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 0% jets, 2% helicopters, and 1% gliders.[3]

Accidents and incidents

  • 2 April 1983: After a skydiving flight, three passengers exited a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, registration number N927BA, while the engines were still running, despite having been instructed by the aircrew prior to the flight not to exit until the engines were shut down. One of the passengers walked into the rotating left-hand propeller and suffered a fatal head injury. The accident was attributed to inadequate verbal instructions and supervision of the passengers by the pilot in command, and to the failure of the passengers to understand the pilot's instructions. A contributing factor was unsafe actions by the passengers.[9]
  • 11 November 1995: A Van's Aircraft RV-4, registration number N30RV, took off from Aero Country Airport and flew for about 5 minutes, leveling off at 1,800 ft (549 m) MSL. As the pilot made a left turn, the engine stopped running, and the aircraft stalled and rolled inverted. The pilot stalled the aircraft a second time while attempting to recover and impacted the ground while leveling off. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot and single passenger received serious injuries. The post-crash investigation revealed that the fuel selector was in the "right main open" position, but the right tank contained no usable fuel, the left tank contained very little fuel, and both fuel gauges indicated "near" empty. No engine defects were observed. The accident was attributed to "the pilot's failure to refuel the airplane which led to a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion, and the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed."[10]
  • 19 July 1997: A Rans S-9, registration number N1678N, lost engine power after a high-speed pass over the runway; the pilot attempted to turn back to the runway, but the airplane stalled and went into a spin during a "very tight" 180° turn to get in sequence behind an ultralight that was taking off. The S-9 impacted the ground in a near-vertical attitude, killing the pilot and sole occupant. The accident was attributed to "loss of engine power for undetermined reason(s), and failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, while maneuvering for a forced landing, which resulted in a stall and collision with the terrain."[8]
  • 9 January 2001: A Nord 1101 Noralpha, registration number N208BF, lost engine power on takeoff and was substantially damaged in the subsequent off-airport forced landing. The pilot suffered serious injuries and the single passenger suffered no injuries. An investigator determined that the aft throttle linkage assembly's push/pull rod had separated from the support bushing "due to improper installation." The accident was attributed to "the loss of engine power during takeoff resulting from the inadequate engagement of the throttle torque tube rod end into the support bushing by unknown maintenance personnel."[11]
  • 31 December 2016: A Piper PA-28R-200 Arrow, registration number N4407T, and a Luscombe 8A, registration number N2889K, suffered a mid-air collision in the airfield traffic pattern approximately 1/2 mi (0.8 km) east of the airport. Both aircraft were destroyed on impact with the ground; the pilot and sole occupant of N4407T and the pilot and single passenger aboard N2889K were killed.[12] N4407T crashed into a storage facility, starting a substantial fire[12] that damaged a stored boat; the blaze thwarted bystanders' attempts to rescue the pilot.[13] The collision severed the empennage of the second aircraft, which then crashed in the southbound lanes of Custer Road near Virginia Parkway, causing the road to be shut down while emergency crews responded.[13] The cause of the accident is under investigation.[12]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ It is unclear exactly when the designation changes took place. A National Transportation Safety Board report for an accident at Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport on 3 July 1992 uses the T31 designation;[6] however, that airport is currently assigned the ICAO designation of KPIL and the FAA LID of PIL.[7] An NTSB report for an accident that took place at Aero Country in July 1997 uses an FAA LID of TX05.[8]
Citations
  1. ↑ "Aero Country Property Owners Association". ACPOA. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. ↑ Google (2 May 2018). "Aero Country Airport" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 FAA Airport Master Record for T31 (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration, Effective 26 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Texas Airport Directory - McKinney, Aero Country (T31)" (PDF). Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  5. ↑ "T31 McKinney [Aero Country Airport], TX, US - Airport". Great Circle Mapper. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "NTSB Aviation Accident Final Report FTW92LA178". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "KPIL Port Isabel [Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport], TX, US - Airport". Great Circle Mapper. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  8. 1 2 "NTSB Aviation Accident Final Report FTW97FA274". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "NTSB Aviation Accident Final Report FTW83LA177". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "NTSB Aviation Accident Final Report FTW96LA042". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "NTSB Aviation Accident Final Report FTW01LA047". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 "NTSB Aviation Accident Preliminary Report CEN17FA063B". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  13. 1 2 Light, Nanette; Wigglesworth, Valeria (31 December 2017). "At least three dead after two small aircraft collide mid-flight near McKinney". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  • "McKinney, Aero Country (T31)" (PDF). at Texas DOT Airport Directory
  • "Aero Country Property Owners Association".
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