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Port of Seattle agrees to build new regional airport on March 7, 1942.

Soon after Japan attacks Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), the federal Civil Aviation Authority offers $1 million to any local government that will build a new airport to serve the greater Seattle area. City and county governments are reluctant to undertake the task, but Port of Seattle Commission chairman Horace Chapman feels "it is our duty." The Port Commission agrees on March 7, 1942. The original landing strips at Seattle Tacoma International Airport are completed in October 1944 at a cost of $4 million, and a modern terminal opens on July 9, 1949.
File 1005: Full Text >

Port of Seattle Commission proposes to rename Seattle-Tacoma Airport for Philip G. Johnson on September 15, 1944.

On September 15, 1944, the Port of Seattle Commission votes to rename the new Seattle-Tacoma Airport "Johnson Field" in honor of Philip G. Johnson (1891-1944), Boeing's wartime president, who died the previous day. Tacoma officials quickly block the plan and the name-change is cancelled.
File 3718: Full Text >

Airliner crash kills nine and injures 17 at Sea-Tac Airport on November 30, 1947.

On November 30, 1947, at approximately 2:25 p.m., an Alaska Airlines C-54 charter airliner with 25 passengers and three crewmembers aboard crashes while landing at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, killing nine and injuring 17. One of the dead is a blind passenger in an automobile struck by the airplane.
File 3067: Full Text >

Governor Arthur Langlie dedicates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on July 9, 1949.

On July 9, 1949, Governor Arthur Langlie (1900-1966) presides at the dedication of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. He warns eagles, hawks, and skylarks to move over for "We, too, have at last won our place beside you in the firmament of heaven." Emphasizing the governor's point, squadrons of Air Force and Navy bombers and jet fighters thunder overhead, while on the ground crowds line up to tour commercial airliners and military planes. Opened during World War II, the facility has been serving passengers for several years under the name Seattle-Tacoma Airport. The dedication ceremony celebrates both the completion of a modern new administration building and passenger terminal and the official naming of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
File 1006: Full Text >

Airliner crash into Puget Sound kills five on April 2, 1956.

On April 2, 1956, an airliner ditches into Puget Sound off Vashon Island killing five. The Northwest Orient Airlines Stratocruiser had departed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport enroute to New York.
File 3698: Full Text >

Police arrest demonstrators protesting construction employment discrimination at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on November 6, 1969.

On November 6, 1969, police arrest 48 protestors during a demonstration at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) protesting discrimination in construction employment. The demonstration is part of an ongoing direct action campaign by the Central Contractors Association (CCA) to win more union construction jobs for blacks and other minorities. CCA leaders Tyree Scott (1940-2003) and Michael K. Ross (1941-2007) are among those arrested. CCA's campaign has previously succeeded in temporarily shutting down all major federally funded construction sites in the Seattle area and prompted a federal civil rights lawsuit against the largely white building trades unions. After the November demonstration at Sea-Tac, a federal judge imposes more restrictions on CCA demonstrations, but in just over six months the same judge will find the unions in violation of civil rights law and mandate a broad affirmative action program to desegregate them.
File 8920: Full Text >

A thief or thieves hijack pearls from REA Express at the Sea-Tac Airport and the messenger is murdered on December 22, 1969.

On December 22, 1969, 300 pounds of raw pearls from Japan are hijacked from REA Express at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the messenger, Carlyle J. Aicher, age 51, is murdered. More than a year later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, responsible for investigating thefts from interstate shipments, will arrest and prosecute Harry E. Chard, a former REA Express messenger, for possession and transportation of the stolen pearls, for which he is sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. Most of the pearls are recovered during a police undercover operation in Vancouver, Canada, a year later, but the robbery and murder of Carlyle Aicher remains unsolved.
File 7926: Full Text >

Billboard reading "Will the Last Person Leaving SEATTLE -- Turn Out the Lights" appears near Sea-Tac International Airport on April 16, 1971.

On April 16, 1971, real-estate agents Bob McDonald and Jim Youngren put the words, "Will the last person leaving SEATTLE -- Turn out the lights" on a billboard at S 167th Street and Pacific Highway S near Sea-Tac International Airport. The two realtors, who work for Henry Broderick, Inc., put up the billboard as a humorous response to pessimism generated by the national aerospace industry's nosedive, known locally as the Boeing Bust.
File 1287: Full Text >

Supersonic Concorde airliner pays its first visit to Seattle on November 15, 1984.

On November 15, 1984, a British Airways Concorde supersonic airliner pays its first visit to Seattle. The slender delta-winged SST lands at Boeing Field bearing a cargo of just-bottled Beaujolais nouveau wine accompanied by Seattle restaurateur Mick McHugh and his guests. The following day, the plane carries passengers on a "Flight to Nowhere" over the Pacific Ocean as a fundraiser for the Museum of Flight. It departs Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on November 17, 1984. Nineteen years later the Concordes will be retired. One aircraft will return to Seattle on November 5, 2003, to join the permanent collection of the Museum of Flight.
File 4261: Full Text >

Port of Seattle issues study on December 28, 1988, forecasting that by 2000 Sea-Tac International Airport could reach maximum capacity.

On December 28, 1988, the Port of Seattle publishes a "Comprehensive Planning Review and Airspace Update Study." This study concludes that the existing two runways at Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport could reach "maximum efficient capacity" by the year 2000, giving impetus to the idea of constructing a third "dependent" runway.
File 4198: Full Text >

Port of Seattle and Puget Sound Council of Governments launch Flight Plan study on May 23, 1989.

On May 23, 1989, the Port of Seattle and Puget Sound Council of Governments (reorganized as the Puget Sound Regional Council in 1991) sign an Interagency Agreement to launch the "Flight Plan" study of future air service capacity needs and solutions, including the possible expansion of the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport. The effort is guided by a 39-member Puget Sound Air Transportation Committee and will lead to a controversial decision in 1992 to add a third "dependent" runway at Sea-Tac to maintain airport capacity during low visibility weather conditions.
File 4199: Full Text >

Washington State Legislature imposes moratorium on new runway development at Western Washington airports in March 1992.

In March 1992, the Washington State Legislature orders the Air Transportation Commission (AIRTRAC) to study air -transportation issues facing the state, and imposes a moratorium on new runway development at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) and at other western Washington airports until the study is complete. This action reflects legislators' skepticism of the Port of Seattle's plans for a third runway at Sea-Tac. The Legislature will dissolve the Commission in 1994 and lift the moratorium even though the commission reports that the third Sea-Tac runway will not adequately solve the region's air transportation problems.
File 4200: Full Text >

Puget Sound Air Transportation Committee endorses construction of a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport on June 17, 1992.

On June 17, 1992, the Puget Sound Air Transportation Committee (PSATC) adopts its final report, titled "Flight Plan," and recommends the addition of a third runway to the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport, commercial use of Snohomish County's Paine Field and possibly Tacoma's McChord Air Force Base, and development of a "supplemental airport" in Pierce or Thurston County to meet projected commercial airline service needs in the region through 2020. The special 39-member committee was established in late 1989 by the Port of Seattle and the Puget Sound Council of Governments (now Puget Sound Regional Council). Two-and-a-half years of public discussion and technical analysis is approved by a vote of 29 to 6. This action lays the foundation for the construction of Sea-Tac's third runway.
File 4201: Full Text >

Port of Seattle authorizes planning for new runway at Sea-Tac International Airport on November 3, 1992.

On November 3, 1992, the Seattle Port Commission approves Resolution 3125 to commence planning for a "third runway" at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The action follows a three-year "Flight Plan" study and public discussion conducted by the Puget Sound Regional Council. The new runway is intended to maintain airport operations during inclement weather, but it generates criticism from neighboring cities opposed to Sea-Tac's expansion.
File 4007: Full Text >

Puget Sound Regional Council amends the Regional Airport System Plan to support a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport and development of a major supplemental airport on April 29, 1993.

On April 29, 1993, the Puget Sound Regional Council's General Assembly adopts Resolution A-93-03 amending the 1988 Regional Airport System Plan on the basis of a three-year Flight Plan study concluded in 1992. The Resolution declares that "The region should pursue vigorously, as the preferred alternative, a major supplemental airport and a third runway at Sea-Tac," subject to additional Expert Arbitration Panel reviews. The motion passes with an 89 percent majority.
File 4203: Full Text >

The Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board ends search for a major supplemental airport site on October 27, 1994.

On October 27, 1994, the Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board adopts Resolution EB-94-01, ending the search for a new airport site to supplement Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport, which is owned and operated by the Port of Seattle. This action leaves the construction of a third runway at Sea-Tac Airport as the Council's sole "preferred alternative" for meeting the region's projected air capacity needs through 2020.
File 4204: Full Text >

FAA and Port of Seattle publish a Final Environmental Impact Statement for proposed Sea-Tac International Airport improvements, including a third runway, on February 1, 1996.

On February 1, 1996, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Port of Seattle formally issue a seven-volume, 5,500-page Final Environmental Impact Statement for planned Seattle-Tacoma International (Sea-Tac) Airport improvements, including a controversial third runway. The Environmental Impact Statement finds that the project is needed to meet future air travel needs and that all anticipated effects on the natural and social environment can be mitigated. This determination gives the Port of Seattle, Sea-Tac's operator, the green light to begin detailed planning and engineering and to apply for needed state and federal permits.
File 4205: Full Text >

Port of Seattle Commission adopts Sea-Tac International Airport's Master Plan Update, including a third runway and enhanced noise criteria, on August 1, 1996.

On August 1, 1996, the Port of Seattle passes Resolution 3212, adopting the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport's Master Plan Update (MPU) and the Puget Sound Regional Council's (PSRC) Resolution A-96-02 noise criteria. These resolutions authorize detailed planning, property acquisition, and permit applications for construction of a third runway at Sea-Tac Airport.
File 4206: Full Text >

Port of Seattle approves a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement and permit applications for third runway construction at Sea-Tac International Airport on May 27, 1997.

On May 27, 1997, the Port of Seattle adopts Resolution 3245, approving the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Port and Federal Aviation Administration. The Resolution also authorizes construction of a third runway for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport pending approval of necessary permits.
File 4207: Full Text >

Washington State Department of Ecology issues Clean Water Act permit for proposed third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport on August 10, 2001.

On August 10, 2001, the Washington State Department of Ecology issues to the Port of Seattle a permit that certifies compliance with Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act. This permit is a key step in the long process to allow construction of a third dependent runway for Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport. The Airport Communities Coalition, a consortium of six communities surrounding the airport, quickly files an appeal.
File 4208: Full Text >

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