DeKalb–Peachtree Airport

DeKalb–Peachtree Airport (IATA: PDK, ICAO: KPDK, FAA LID: PDK) is a county-owned, public-use airport in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States.[1] The airport is located in the city of Chamblee, just northeast of Atlanta. It is also known commonly as Peachtree–DeKalb Airport, or simply PDK. Other names (rarely used) include Peachtree Airport, DeKalb Airport, or DeKalb County Airport. ASOS weather reports are produced 24 hours per day as "Chamblee". It has airline service with Ultimate Air Shuttle to Cincinnati and Southern Airways Express to Memphis and Destin.

DeKalb–Peachtree Airport
Aerial view, circa 2004
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerDeKalb County
ServesAtlanta, Georgia
LocationChamblee, Georgia
Elevation AMSL1,003 ft / 306 m
Coordinates33°52′32″N 084°18′07″W
Map
PDK
Location of airport in Georgia / United States
PDK
PDK (the United States)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
3R/21L 6,001 1,829 Concrete
3L/21R 3,746 1,142 Asphalt
16/34 3,967 1,209 Asphalt
9/27 (CLOSED) 3,383 1,031 Asphalt
Helipads
Number Length Surface
ft m
H1 56 17 Concrete
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft operations202,491
Based aircraft447

As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 1,784 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008,[2] 393 enplanements in 2009, and 463 in 2010.[3] It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a reliever airport.[4]

History

The property was originally part of Camp Gordon, a World War I military training camp. That facility closed in 1922. (The Army re-created Camp Gordon during World War II, but built it in Augusta, Ga., 150 miles away, and it has since been renamed Fort Gordon.) In 1940, the United States government authorized construction of a military airport on the former site of the Chamblee camp. The airport began operations on March 22, 1941, a few months before the U.S. entry into World War II, as Naval Air Station Atlanta.

Barracks constructed at the facility during the war became classrooms in late 1948 for Southern Technical Institute, a new engineering technology school created by Georgia Tech for former soldiers. Leased from the county by the United States Navy, the airport was converted from military to civilian use from 1957 to 1959.

Naval Air Station Atlanta subsequently moved to Marietta on the south side of what is now called Dobbins Air Reserve Base. NAS Atlanta was ultimately closed by BRAC action in 2009. Like NAS Atlanta, the Southern Technical Institute moved from PDK in 1958, to land donated by Dobbins, and it now operates as Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology,[5] a part of Kennesaw State University.[6]

In 1973, PDK was the site of a Learjet crash, resulting in seven fatalities. It was determined that the crash resulted from "The loss of engine thrust during takeoff due to ingestion of birds by the engines, with the aircraft striking an apartment building and burning in a complex just south of the airport. Large flocks of birds were attracted to an adjacent DeKalb County sanitation Landfill (operational in summer 1962 and finally closed in early 1975), which had become a flight safety issue long before the crash, after several minor bird strikes in the late 1960s and early 1970s.[7]

Facilities and aircraft

Dekalb–Peachtree Airport covers an area of 745 acres (301 ha) at an elevation of 1,003 feet (306 m) above mean sea level. It has three runways: 3R/21L (formerly 2R/20L)[8] is 6,001 by 100 feet (1,829 x 30 m) with a concrete surface; 3L/21R (formerly 2L/20R)[8] is 3,746 by 150 feet (1,142 x 46 m) with an asphalt surface; and 16/34, which is 3,967 by 150 feet (1,209 x 46 m) with an asphalt surface. It also has one helipad designated with a concrete surface measuring H1 is 56 by 56 feet (17 x 17 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending August 31, 2010, the airport had 202,491 aircraft operations, an average of 554 per day: 99.9% general aviation and 0.1% military. At that time there were 447 aircraft based at this airport: 68% single-engine, 17% multi-engine, 11% jet, and 5% helicopter.[1]

The airport has over 100 hangars. It is the second-busiest airport in Georgia, behind Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), in the number of flight operations per year and is the seventh-busiest general aviation (non-airline) airport in the US.[9] PDK helps to relieve ATL of smaller-aircraft traffic. It is used by helicopters for metro Atlanta's four major news TV stations (WSB-TV 2, WAGA-TV 5, WXIA-TV 11, WGCL-TV 46) as the base for electronic news gathering from the air. PDK is also home to The AutoPILOT Magazine, an advertorial publication covering all things aviation-related. A new control tower was built in 1988, and stands at 130 feet (40 m) tall. Many of the old NAS Atlanta buildings still remain. The largest houses offices for PDK administration, flight schools, and the Civil Air Patrol, as well as the Downwind restaurant, with an aviation-themed decor and an open deck overlooking the active runways.[10] Adjacent to that building is a children's playground, Georgia's first aviation park.

In late 2018, the first EMAS installed in Georgia was added to runway 3R/21L.[11]

Epps Aviation, the airport's full service fixed-base operator is located on 21 acres (8.5 ha) in a modern facility, elsewhere on the airport grounds.

  • Priority Jet provides jet charter and travel accommodation worldwide through a network of aircraft served by more than 6000 general aviation airports in North America. Corporate Jet, LLC d.b.a. Priority Jet, LLC is a FAR Part 135 on-demand air carrier: Certificate # YCOA444K and Priority Jet Maintenance, LLC is a FAR Part 145 Repair Station: Certificate # 1PJR531B.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
JetSmarter Charter: Boca Raton
Ultimate Air Shuttle Charlotte, Cincinnati–Lunken

Economic impact

In 1997, DeKalb Peachtree Airport was one of the largest tax contributors of DeKalb County, behind The Southern Company and Bellsouth but receives no taxpayer dollars for operations. The 1997 study funded by the airport found that in addition to 762 aviation-related jobs at the airport, there may be 3,600 non-airport jobs driven by airport activities like taxi drivers and cleaning personnel.[12]

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References
  1. FAA Airport Master Record for PDK (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective April 5, 2012.
  2. "Enplanements for CY 2008" (PDF, 1.0 MB). Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports. Federal Aviation Administration. December 18, 2009.
  3. "Enplanements for CY 2010" (PDF, 189 KB). Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data for U.S. Airports. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2011.
  4. "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF, 2.03 MB) on 2012-09-27.
  5. Duguay, J. C. (June 2000). "DeKalb Peachtree Airport – Our History". DeKalb Peachtree Airport. Archived from the original on December 28, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  6. Kennesaw State University (January 2016). "It's official: Board of Regents approves consolidation of Kennesaw State and Southern Polytechnic". Kennesaw State University. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  7. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Learjet 24 N454RN Atlanta-DeKalb Peachtree Airport, GA (PDK)". Aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  8. Bonita A. Martin, Air Traffic Manager, DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Traffic Control Tower (March 7, 2013). "DEKALB-PEACHTREE ATCT LETTER TO AIRMEN NO. 13-01, RUNWAY IDENTIFICATION CHANGE". FAA. Retrieved 22 March 2013.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2014-03-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2013-01-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Epstein, Curt. "PDK Is First Georgia Airport To Install EMAS". Aviation International News. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  12. Glier, Ray (October 19, 2007). "DeKalb Peachtree proves to be economic driver". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
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