Cape Sarichef Airport

Cape Sarichef Airport (IATA: WSF, ICAO: PACS, FAA LID: 26AK) was a small landing strip located on the western end of Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was used to supply and support a United States Coast Guard LORAN station and U.S. Air Force DEW Line site during the Cold War.

Cape Sarichef Airport
Summary
Airport typePrivate
OwnerU.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
LocationUnimak Island
Elevation AMSL291 ft / 89 m
Coordinates54°35′04″N 164°54′21″W
Map
WSF is located in Alaska
WSF
WSF
Location of airport in Alaska
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
6/24 1,900 579 Gravel
16/34 3,500 1,067 Gravel

It is now a private-use facility owned by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and managed by the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

Cape Sarichef was named in 1816 by Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue after Admiral Gavril Sarychev of the Imperial Russian Navy.

Facilities

Cape Sarichef Airport has two runways:

  • Runway 16/34: 3,500 x 120 ft. (1,067 x 37 m), surface: gravel
  • Runway 6/24: 1,900 x 90 ft. (579 x 27 m), surface: gravel

History

The airport was built in 1958 to support Cape Sarichef Air Force Station, a Cold War United States Air Force Distant Early Warning Line radar station. The station was operated by Detachment 3, 714th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron based at Cold Bay Air Force Station, near Cold Bay, Alaska. The radar station was inactivated in September 1969, ending military use of the airport. The Air Force remediated the site around 2000, removing all abandoned military structures and returning the site to a natural condition.

References
  1. "Airline and Airport Code Search". IATA. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  2. FAA Airport Form 5010 for 26AK PDF, retrieved 2007-03-15


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