Airliner World – April 2018

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The next stop was an even more
remote location, Yakutat. This town
has the smallest population of all the
places the milk run visits, with just 662
residents. It’s novel to think that when
the aircraft lands with 72 passengers it
temporarily increases the population
by more than 10%!
Juneau was the last stop of the day,
with the approach from the west
providing quite an experience. The
airport’s sole hard runway runs east
to west, with a parallel water runway
nearby. When Runway 08 is in use
each landing aircraft must make an
‘S’ turn on short finals, due to a forested
hill on the runway extended centreline.
On landing most passengers disem-
barked into the rain, while the aircraft
was prepared for the next flight to
Seattle.

Day Two
After an evening in Juneau, explor-
ing the state capital and watching five
de Havilland Canada Turbo Otters
depart from the waterfront within min-
utes of each other, it was back to the
airport. Flight AS64’s route to Seattle
included stops at Petersburg, Wrangell
and Ketchikan. While waiting to board,
it was interesting to watch an Alaska
Airlines 737-900ER make the late
S-turn, before touching down and
hitting the brakes hard. Juneau has
a relatively long runway, at 8,858ft
(2,700m), which is more than enough
for even the largest 737 variant.
Shortly afterwards N762AS
(c/n 25099) arrived from Anchorage to
take me south. Departure from Juneau
was straight out almost on the runway
heading. The state capital is in a valley
surrounded by some extremely
tall peaks and, with the weather
much improved, Alaska’s beautiful

scenery provided the perfect in-flight

entertainment.

Juneau Airport is a short drive from

the city, but the runway runs perpen-

dicular to a local attraction, the lower

end of the Mendenhall Glacier. From

the air, and with clear weather, you

can really appreciate the beauty Alaska

brings, from countless peaks, to lakes,

forests and glaciers. Even in May many

of the lakes are still partially frozen.

The flight to Petersburg was a mere

26 minutes, so it wasn’t long before the

engines powered back and the aircraft

started to descend.

The next two stops, Petersburg

and Wrangell, featured the shortest

runways on the milk run, so following

some scenic turns to line up visually,

plenty of braking was applied on

touchdown.

The terminals at each stop seemed to

get smaller and smaller but, following

a short turnaround and a powerful take

off, the aircraft was soon bound for

Wrangell.

At a distance of only 31 miles (50km)

as the crow flies from Petersburg, it

was a short 11-minute flight, featuring

a four-minute take off and climb, with

the rest of the time spent descending

for the 5,997ft-long (1,828m) runway.

The turnaround in Wrangell took

longer than normal, as the Captain told

us that the next destination, Ketchikan,

has strict rules on how many aircraft

can be in the vicinity, like a one in-one

out rule. Once airborne the flight took

just 21 minutes.

On some of the shortest flights the

onboard service is offered after landing

because there simply isn’t enough time

to do it in the air. Ketchikan, the last

stop before Seattle, is quite an interest-

ing airport. Like all the cities visited

before it, it’s closed off from the out-

The clouds gather as

flight AS66 taxies at

Ketchikan.

TOP • Alaska’s stunning

scenery provides the

perfect in-flight enter-

tainment.

Flying is the only means

of transport for many

of the communities

visited on the milk run.

AVIATION IMAGE NE T WORK/

SIMON GREGORY

Much consideration must

be given to the weight and

balance of the aircraft. If

all the igloos are removed

from the aircraft while the

passenger cabin remains

full, the aircraft can easily

tip over.