Great Lakes Air
{{short description|Airline of the United States}}
{{Distinguish|Great Lakes Airlines}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline = Great Lakes Air, Inc.
| bases = St. Ignace, Mackinac County Airport
| hubs = Mackinac County Airport
| ceased = 2022
| fleet_size = 5
| headquarters = St. Ignace, Michigan, United States
| website = {{URL|https://www.greatlakesair.net/}}
}}
Great Lakes Air was an American fixed-base operator and charter airline based in Mackinac County Airport in St. Ignace, Michigan.
Great Lakes Air began in St. Ignace, and began air charter service from Mackinac County Airport serving various destinations throughout Michigan. Over its 30-year career, Great Lakes established a name as one of the largest air charter companies in Michigan with its main charter destination, Mackinac Island. In addition to passenger charter, cargo was also flown throughout Michigan.
In August 2019, Great Lakes Air purchased a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander Piston Islander aircraft, in order to ensure the efficiency of its operations during the winter months.{{Cite web|url=https://www.adsadvance.co.uk/britten-norman-supplies-islander-aircraft-to-great-lakes-air.html|title=Britten-Norman supplies Islander aircraft to Great Lakes Air|date=2019-08-29|website=www.adsadvance.co.uk|access-date=2019-11-21}}
In October 2022 the airline ceased operations.{{Cite web|url=https://eu.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/08/mackinac-island-loses-a-plane-service/69547137007/ |title=Great Lakes Air ceases operation, ends charter flights to Mackinac Island |date=2022-10-08|website=eu.freep.com|access-date=2023-05-08}}
Fleet
| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; text-align:center;"
|+ Great Lakes Air fleet |
| Aircraft
!Total !Passengers |
|---|
| Piper Cherokee 6
|2 |6 |
| Beechcraft Baron
|1 |6 |
| Partenavia P.68
|1 |6 |
| Cessna 172
|1 |4 |
| Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander
|1 |9 |
Destinations
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2022}}
Accidents and incidents
- On February 17, 2014, a Great Lakes Air Piper Cherokee 6 N7122J made an emergency landing on the ice of Lake Huron. There were no injuries. The NTSB reported the cause of the forced landing as a fuel injector malfunction, causing fuel starvation. The plane was pulled off the ice via snow machine, and returned into service.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=140220|title=Accident Piper PA-32-260 Cherokee Six N33315, 03 Dec 2011}}
- On December 3, 2011, a Great Lakes Air Piper Cherokee 6 registration number N33315 en route from St. Ignace crashed upon approach to Mackinac Island Airport. The pilot and sole passenger died upon impact. The Coast Guard commenced a search and rescue operation to recover the down aircraft, locating it in a wooded area approximately 1.6 miles north of 83D. The victims were Thomas Phillips of Kirkland, Washington, an Amazon Executive, and pilot Joseph Phillips Jr. of St. Ignace. The pilot's error to properly judge weather conditions was blamed for the cause of the crash.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=163945|title=Incident Piper PA-32-260 Cherokee Six N7122J, 17 Feb 2014}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|https://www.greatlakesair.net/}}
{{Portalbar|United States|Michigan|Companies|Aviation}}
{{Airlines of the United States|state=collapsed}}
Category:Airlines based in Michigan
Category:Defunct charter airlines of the United States
{{US-airline-stub}}