Sometimes, it’s just nice to kick back and reminisce. Which is why my Shabat (Friday night) dinners are so important to me. Because that’s the one time each week that my friends (and, when they were younger- and around- my children’s friends) come over for dinner, spending hours discussing past events, politics, science, technology… all the things in life that matter.

So it was this past weekend (when this was written). We’ve just gone through the snowiest winter in the Commonwealth I can remember in 20 years. Which is just what my friends and coworkers remembered as well. When one of them brought up what he thought was just a myth. That a 747 once landed at the Charlottesville Airport.

When I moved to Charlottesville almost 40 years ago, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport was a toy for private pilots. The terminal reminded me of the zany little places I had visited in Canada. A building that could hold 40 folks (if they were skinny) with movable stairs that could be rolled out to the four YS-11 flights a day (and two 737 jet flights, one to Atlanta and one to New York) a day. With a bigger building for all the private planes that used the airport.

It’s why I had to drive to Dulles or National four or five times a week to travel. Because I needed to get to the West Coast, to Massachusetts, to Texas, to Europe, and to Asia- and the connection added too many hours and too many dollars to my journeys.

Which is how it stayed until the early 80’s. I had just been appointed to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Authority. (Until then, the name was longer than the actual authority it wielded.) We set about making it a real airport. With flights from Piedmont (the aforementioned 6 flights daily), USAir and Allegheny (the commuter airline never changed its name), American, United, and Continental. With our newly scheduled fourteen flights, we needed a new terminal.

It was an exciting time. Air travel became a reality for the Charlottesville community. With “The University”, a few startups, and a few established firms, the airlines found it profitable to service our region.

But, the most memorable event (other than the day the new terminal opened) of my tenure was when the East Coast was socked in and shut down by a big snow storm. This storm became known as the Great Blizzard of 83. Instead of an inch or two, most of the East Coast was hit with 20+ inch snow accumulations, plus drifts.

But, in Charlottesville, we only had an inch or so. Oh, we had the same thunder events as the rest of the East Coast, but the mountain ranges spared us the snow dump. And, around 10 or 11 PM or so, we got a bizarre request. (We verified it twice, because it was so bizarre.)

We were being asked to let a TWA flight land at Charlottesville, for us to reopen our airport for the flight. (Our airport closed around 10 PM, when the last flight arrived; that plane then spent the night on the tarmac.) And, this request was not just for a TWA flight, but big plane- a 747.

Now, I knew that our runway was only 6,001 feet long. It has been that way since 1963. (Yes, this limits the plane choices and weights at the airport.) And, a 747 needed a minimum of 5900 feet to land, when it is loaded- and that’s in clear weather. There was no room for error. And, we had to work fast, because this request was being made because the plane had very little fuel left and needed to make an emergency landing- NOW.  It had been circling for hours, seeking refuge on the ground.

The airport staff stepped up to the plate. Cleared the runway. Got the fire truck ready (and two more from nearby firehouses.) Got buses to transport the folks to hotels and Dulles Airport- it would be their choice of destination. The staff got the airport up and running and ready to handle this emergency request.

It took my breath away to watch that 747 be piloted onto our runway. We were worried that it might be too heavy and get caught on the tarmac. We were worried it would come in too fast and too long and overshoot the runway. In general, we were petrified. We had peoples’ lives at stake.

The pilot’s effort was perfect. The runway held. And, with a little “English”, we were able to finagle our stairs to handle getting the folks getting off the airplane. In an hour’s time, all the passengers were whisked away- most of them to Dulles, their original destination.

And, the next day, the 747 plane was stripped. Almost everything was removed and trucked away. Because the plane had to be EMPTY to take off from our short runway. (It needed at least 500 more feet with the weight of the seats, the overhead bins, and a pilot-. With just enough fuel to make Dulles Airport. And, it did just that.

So, no, it’s not a myth.  12 February 1983.  The day a 747 landed at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport.

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