Watsonville Municipal Airport

Watsonville Municipal Airport (IATA: WVI, ICAO: KWVI, FAA LID: WVI) is three miles (5 km) northwest of Watsonville, in Santa Cruz County, California, United States.[1] The airport covers 330 acres (134 ha) and has two runways. The largest aircraft to ever land at Watsonville were 05-5141 and 05-5143, C-17 Globemaster IIIs from March ARB, California.

This article is about the modern Watsonville Airport. For information about the historic airport, see Watsonville Airport.

Watsonville Municipal Airport
Photo of Watsonville Municipal Airport
Airport diagram
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorCity of Watsonville
LocationWatsonville, California
Elevation AMSL163 ft / 50 m
Coordinates36°56′09″N 121°47′23″W
Map
WVI is located in California
WVI
WVI
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
2/20 4,501 1,372 Asphalt
9/27 3,998 1,219 Asphalt

Facilities

The airport's longest runway is 02-20, 4501' x 149'. The crosswind runway, 09-27, 3998' x 98', is used when winds favor it and when fog is moving across the field from Monterey Bay.

The airport is uncontrolled, and the CTAF is 122.8 MHz, and the ASOS can be received on 132.275 MHz or by calling 831-724-8794.

History
NAAS Watsonville, Naval Air Auxiliary Station Watsonville in 1945

The Navy took over in July, 1943, purchased an additional 35 acres, built support buildings and the concrete ramp. On October 23, 1943, the airport was commissioned as Naval Air Auxiliary Station Watsonville (NAAS Watsonville) and served as a satellite to Naval Air Station (NAS) Alameda. NAAS Watsonville provided training and maintenance for the 12th Naval District, Alameda, California under the Bureau of Yards and Docks, under the command of Lieutenant John C. Chapman. Antisubmarine Blimps in the defense of California from Moffett Field were stationed at NAAS Watsonville. Other aircraft stationed at the base were Grumman F6F Hellcat with the VF-8 and VBF-8. Up to 75 combat aircraft were stationed at the base. Also based at the airfield were Grumman TBF Avenger, Vought F4U Corsair and Douglas SBD Dauntless. These were used for the 90- to 120-day training classes, in torpedo, dive bomber and fighter operations. As the World War II ended, so did operations at NAAS Watsonville, on November 1, 1945, it was closed and placed on caretaker status. The NAAS Watsonville was returned to the city in 1947.[2][3]

Instrument approaches

The airport has three documented instrument approach procedures, making it a popular instrument training area.

  • Localizer Runway 02 (requires overwater flight)
  • RNAV (GPS) Runway 02 (requires overwater flight, LPV/WAAS minimums)
  • VOR/DME-A (from Salinas VOR)

Instrument pilots have been advised that Watsonville is occasionally surrounded by non-IFR traffic that climbs or descends to low stratus layers in violation of regulations. Air traffic control (ATC) usually calls them out, but they cannot always see them. There are frequent radio calls to the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF), even when instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevail.

Accidents and incidents

On August 18, 2022, at 2:56 PM, two planes, a twin engine Cessna 340 and a single engine Cessna 152 collided with each other while attempting to land. Three fatalities have been reported.[4][5]

See also

References
  1. "Watsonville Municipal Airport". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  2. militarymuseum.org, Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Watsonville
  3. Naval Air Auxiliary Station Watsonville
  4. "Three dead as two planes crash while landing at Watsonville". MSN.
  5. "At least 2 people killed after planes collide during landing at NorCal airport". August 18, 2022.
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