SENIOR COALITION VISITS KEARNEY FLIGHT SERVICES

The Senior Coalition soared over to Kearney Flight Services on Tuesday, June 27th to learn more about the facility, its history, and the crew! Below were some interesting facts shared by Annette Kirchhoff, Office Manager at KFS.

History of Kearney Regional Airport

In 1940 Kearney had a population of 9,643. In the early 1940s, three Nebraska cities, Kearney, Grand Island and Hastings joined to form the Central Nebraska Defense Council when it was learned that the United States Army Air Forces was considering the site for a military airfield. The group attempted to convince Washington that central Nebraska was suitable. Kearney and Grand Island effectively competed as locations for defense airports which would serve as storage for aircraft made at Offutt Field and the Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant near Omaha.

As early as 1941 the City of Kearney voted on a $60,000 bond to finance a new airport. Kearney Regional Airport began as Keens Municipal Airport. The cost was more than $360,000, with the balance funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Construction began at the site on Highway 30 on October 21, 1941, and was dedicated as Keens Airport on August 23, 1942, with asphalt runways and one hangar. A handful of buildings from the military era remain at Kearney Airport, notably Hangar #385.

On September 5, 1942 construction was approved to start work on the Kearney Air Force Base (originally Keens Municipal Airport) that the City of Kearney leased to the Army for $1.00 per year as long as the base was needed. Major V. B. Trevellyan was assigned as the first commanding officer of Kearney Army Air Base, arriving on November 30, 1942. Buildings were essentially completed and ready for occupancy by December 15. "It is a complete city within its own area" explained the Corps of Engineers.

Training units began arriving in Kearney on January 30, 1943. Troops were moved in via Union Pacific "troop" trains. The first planes to move in arrived on February 4, when a B47 squadron arrived. The base served a dual purpose during 1943: one for training, the other for processing.

On June 21, 1943, the 824th WAC unit of twelve enlisted women and two officers was activated at the Kearney base. One crew after another arrived at and departed from the base and by April 1944 the base was capable of handling 388 B-17 crews monthly. Of the six hangars built at the Kearney field, four were capable of holding either B-17 or B-29 aircraft. The base was designated Kearney Army Air Field in October 1944, two weeks after the first B-29 arrived for overseas processing. From January 1 to June 1 of 1945, there were 554 B-29s processed for dispatching. During the month of May 1945, 84 B-29 combat crews were processed through Kearney with an average stay at the base of 9.3 days each. Contrary to the situation at many bases, with the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, work at the Kearney base increased as attention was devoted to the war against Japan and the expanding B-29 program. The base was redesignated Kearney Air Force Base in January 1948. Many improvements were made, but the facilities were considered substandard by some military officials. The two major deficiencies were inadequate housing facilities and a need for additional funds of $2,800,000 to bring existing facilities up to desired operating standards. Consequently, the Strategic Air Command decided to abandon the field on March 15, 1959.

The first airline flights were Mid-West Cessna 190s in 1950–52, then Frontier DC-3s appeared in 1959. Frontier's Convairs lasted until 1979.

Apollo MedFlight services were also present and shared information about their services and responsibilities as they cater to the medical needs of patients. Just over 40 years ago, CHI Health Good Samaritan began its flight service with an orange Fairchild-Hiller FH 1100. It lifted off from the hospital’s parking lot for the 181-mile ground-breaking flight. A snowstorm made travel by ground ambulance inadvisable. Ron Rodgers, the helicopter’s owner, was the pilot for the mission. Pediatrician Dr. Dennis Edwards and pediatric nurse Syndie Brueggemann served as the medical crew for a newborn requiring emergency surgery at Children’s Hospital in Omaha. The baby girl was born with Omphalocele–a condition where the intestines, liver, and other internal organs developed outside the body. The mission and corrective surgery were successful. This same baby girl, surviving such a historical experience, grew up to be a Flight Nurse.

Good Samaritan’s air transport service became fully operational on July 21st of 1982 and completed 55 transports, mostly neonates, that first year. The joint effort between Good Samaritan and Rodgers Helicopter Service was later named AirCare and became the longest-operating original air ambulance service in Nebraska.

AirCare is now a partnership with Apollo MedFlight. Apollo MedFlight provides 24-hour emergency and non-emergency air medical transport, quickly accompanying patients from bedside to bedside. Clients range from those requiring minor medical monitoring to those needing intensive in-flight care. Established in 2011 and one of only 175 organizations accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS), Apollo MedFlight has bases in Amarillo, Guymon, Borger, and Childress. As a fully licensed air ambulance company, Apollo offers top-quality aircraft with experienced medical flight teams and medical specialists. Every Apollo aircraft is equipped similarly to an ICU/CCU with state-of-the-art medical technology you would expect in a hospital. The aircrafts do have space to accommodate a loved one on the flight, which Apollo welcomes.