Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport

Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport (IATA: LEW, ICAO: KLEW, FAA LID: LEW) is a public airport in Androscoggin County, Maine, opened in 1935.[1] It is five miles southwest of the cities of Auburn and Lewiston,[2] both of which own and operate the airport,[1] though it is in the Auburn city limits.

"Lewiston Municipal Airport" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Lewistown Municipal Airport or Lewiston Airport.
Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorCities of Auburn & Lewiston
ServesAuburn / Lewiston, Maine
Elevation AMSL288 ft / 88 m
Coordinates44°02′55″N 070°17′01″W
Websitewww.FlyToMaine.com
Map
LEW
Location of airport in Maine / United States
LEW
LEW (the United States)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
4/22 5,001 1,524 Asphalt
17/35 2,750 838 Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft operations74,180
Based aircraft120
Sources: Airport website,[1] FAA[2]

The airport is not served by any airline, though Executive Airlines, Northeast Airlines, Air New England, Northeast Express Regional Airlines, and Bar Harbor Airlines have had scheduled flights to LEW in the past. The airport was the site of a Bar Harbor accident that killed "America's Youngest Ambassador" Samantha Smith.

The airport is also home of the Lufthansa Super Star restoration project. Starting in 2007, Lufthansa purchased three Lockheed L-1649A Super Star Propliners. Since 2007, they have been restoring the plane to be flown to Europe and used on special flights and other purposes.

Lewiston NAAF

From late 1942, during World War II, the airfield was under the control of the United States Navy for use as a base for anti-submarine patrols by Squadron VS-31. It was commissioned on 15 April 1943 as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston, and used along with Naval Air Station Brunswick to train British and American torpedo bomber pilots until 1945. Naval operations ceased on 1 December 1945,[3] and the site was declared surplus in 1946 and handed back to the cities of Auburn and Lewiston in 1947/8.[4]

Facilities and aircraft

Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport covers 547 acres (221 ha) at an elevation of 288 feet (88 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt runways: 4/22 is 5,001 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m) and 17/35 is 2,750 by 75 feet (838 x 23 m).[2]

In the year ending May 1, 2008 the airport had 74,180 aircraft operations, average 203 per day: 64% general aviation, 36% air taxi, and <1% military. 120 aircraft were then based at this airport: 75% single-engine, 14% multi-engine, 1% jet, 3% helicopter and 6% ultralight.[2]

Incidents

On August 25, 1985, Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 carrying 8 passengers (6 passengers, 2 crew) was attempting to land at the airport when it crashed 500 feet to the right of the airport's runway center line, killing all passengers and crew. It was determined that the crash was due to a mixture of weather conditions, incorrect altimeter settings, and pilot error. The accident attracted unusual public attention due to one of the passengers, Samantha Smith, a 13 year old peace activist from Houlton, Maine,

On Monday, August 14, 2017, crews working on a fire alarm and suppression system caused a false alarm in a Lufthansa owned hangar. This caused the hangar to fill with fire suppression foam. Workers were brought to the hospital for foam inhalation, but no one was injured.

See also

References
  1. "Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport". flytome.com. 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  2. FAA Airport Form 5010 for LEW PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 8 April 2010.
  3. "Patrol Squadron Shore Establishments" (PDF). United States Navy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2003-04-27. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  4. US Army Corps of Engineers (December 1995). "Ordnance and Explosives Archive Search Report for Lewiston Naval Auxiliary Air Facility" (PDF). naelibrary.nae.usace.army.mil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
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