Cape May Airport

Cape May Airport or Cape May County Airport  is a public use airport in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by the Delaware River and Bay Authority, the airport is four nautical miles (7 km) northwest of the central business district of Wildwood. It is located in Rio Grande (Middle Township), with an address in Erma (Lower Township).

This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.

Hangar #1 contains the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, whose collection focuses on World War II, named after the former Naval Air Station Wildwood.

History
The airport started in 1941 as NAS Rio Grande, named for its location near Rio Grande, New Jersey. Due to confusion with Rio Grande, Texas, the name was changed to NAS Wildwood in 1943. Following the end of World War II, Naval Air Station Wildwood was deemed excess to U.S. Navy requirements. It was subsequently deeded to the local government for transition to a civilian airport which is still in operation today as Cape May County Airport.

Facilities and aircraft
Cape May County Airport covers an area of 996 acres (403 ha) at an elevation of 21 feet (6 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 1/19 is 5,003 by 150 feet (1,525 x 46 m) and 10/28 is 4,998 by 150 feet (1,523 x 46 m).

For the 12-month period ending November 1, 2010, the airport had 30,200 aircraft operations, an average of 82 per day: 99% general aviation and 1% military. At that time there were 48 aircraft based at this airport: 90% single-engine, 8% multi-engine, and 2% jet.

FlightLevel Aviation is the current FBO on the field serving General Aviation traffic. FBO services include full and self-serve 100LL Avgas and full service Jet A fuel.

On-field services include Flight Deck Diner and Kindle Car Rental. Locations off-field include Cape May National Golf Course (2 miles), Lobster House Restaurant (3 miles) and the Wetlands Institute (10 miles).

Incidents
On December 12, 1976, an Atlantic City Airlines De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operating as Allegheny Commuter Flight 977 crashed short of the runway. Of the two crew members, one died and one sustained serious injuries. Of the passengers, two died and six sustained serious injuries. One seriously injured passenger died one month after the accident, but was counted as a survivor by the National Transportation Safety Board report, because it defined fatalities as individuals who died within seven days of the accident.