Vieques Air Link

Vieques Air Link
Founded	1965
AOC #	VLIA127A
Hubs	Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport
Secondary hubs	Roosevelt Roads Airport(TJRV), “Roosevelt Roads Aviation Services, LLC”
Focus cities	CPX, RVR, SIG, VQS
Fleet size	11
Destinations	4 Destinations Scheduled(SIG, VQS, RVR, CPX), other 4 Dest. have to be Charter Flights.
Parent company	Blue Water Air Charters, LLC
Headquarters	VIG Tower, Santurce, Puerto Rico
Key people	Carlos Rodriguez
Employees	29(Estimate)
Website	viequesairlink.com

Last updated October 09, 2024

Vieques Air Link (VAL, IATA code: V4) is a small VFR(Visual Flight Rules) Puerto Rico-based airline that operates under FAR Part 135, that links Vieques and Culebra with mainland Puerto Rico.

History

Operations began during 1965, with owner Osvaldo "Val" Gonzalez-Duriex piloting a plane with three passengers from Vieques to Humacao. A Cherokee aircraft and another airplane were also acquired later, allowing the airline to serve Isla Verde International Airport.

In 1968, Vieques Air Link added a flight to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.

In 1980 Fajardo Airport in Fajardo was built and Vieques Air Link started flights to the new airport immediately. In the 1980s the company increased the frequency of flights to San Juan, Humacao and Culebra. In 1989, Vieques Air Link lost its entire fleet to Hurricane Hugo. However, it soon acquired seven Britten-Norman Islanders and three Trislanders.

In the 1990s VAL got into financial trouble. However, with the Vieques conflict, more and more Puerto Ricans began flying Vieques Air Link every day to go to military camps to protest, and the police also had to fly their personnel and the people arrested in those areas on VAL planes at various times. Others, like political leaders Ruben Berrios and Fernando Martín, and the 2002 Miss Puerto Rico Carla Tricoli, who is a Viequense, have had pictures taken by the press aboard VAL planes while flying to Vieques, giving the airline a new wave of unpaid-for promotional attention. In addition, in June 2000, the airline made the cover of Islander News magazine, under the headline "Vieques Air Link: How To Survive a Hurricane", about the airline's fleet loss of 1989 and how it survived the potentially fatal financial disaster.^[2]

In 2008, VAL added a new route between Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (TJVQ) in Vieques and the new José Aponte de la Torre Airport (TJRV) at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Base (NRR) in Ceiba, shortening the flight between Vieques and the Puerto Rican mainland to seven or eight minutes in a Britten-Norman Islander (BN2P), or Piper Cherokee (PA-32-260).

Destinations

Vieques Air Link, Inc provides flights at the following locations:^[3]

^[Hub]	Hub
^[F]	Future destination
^[S]	Seasonal
^[T]	Charter destinations
	Scheduled Destinations

City	Country	IATA	ICAO	Airport	Refs
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	BQN	TJBQ	Rafael Hernandez Airport	^[4]
Ceiba, Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	RVR	TJRV	José Aponte de la Torre Airport
Culebra	Puerto Rico	CPX	TJCP	Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport
San Juan	Puerto Rico	SIG	TJIG	Isla Grande Airport
San Juan	Puerto Rico	SJU	TJSJ	Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
St. Croix	United States Virgin Islands	STX	TISX	Henry E. Rohlsen Airport
St. Thomas, USVI	United States Virgin Islands	STT	TIST	Cyril E. King Airport
Vieques	Puerto Rico	VQS	TJVQ	Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport

Fleet

Aircraft	In fleet	Notes
Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six	3	Passenger
Britten-Norman Islander	6	Passenger/Med Transport/Cargo
Britten-Norman Trislander	1	Cargo

Accidents and incidents

On December 21, 1971, an Islander, N589JA, with 1 crew and 7 passengers crashed at Culebra airport. The aircraft bounced on landing. The pilot initiated a go-around over hills. The aircraft was unable to clear a house and crashed.
On December 19, 1977, an Islander, N862JA, crashed en route from St. Croix to Vieques when both engines stopped due to fuel exhaustion. The aircraft was ditched off Vieques. There were 9 passengers and a pilot on board. Five were killed and the aircraft was written off.
On January 26, 1980, a bomb was found on a Vieques Air Link plane that was about to be flown by Raul Mari Pesquera, son of Juan Mari Bras ^[5] (in Spanish).
On August 2, 1984, an Islander, N589SA, operating as Vieques Air Link Flight 901A, crashed on initial climb out of Vieques en route to St. Croix. The Islander was overloaded by 600–700 pounds when it departed Vieques. Also, its centre of gravity was up to 5 inches behind the aft limit. After takeoff the left engine lost power. It lost altitude, banked abruptly to the left, nosed down and crashed into the ocean. It appeared that the fuel had been contaminated with water. On board were the pilot and 8 passengers, all were killed.^[6]
On September 21, 1989, the following Islanders were damaged beyond repair by Hurricane Hugo.
- N112JC
- N290VL
- N457SA
On November 19, 1999, an Islander, N907VL, was damaged beyond repair at Anguilla Wallblake Airport by Hurricane Lenny.
On May 6, 2000, a Vieques Air Link pilot allegedly flew a company aircraft over Camp Garcia, a restricted US Navy area, on a scheduled flight an hour after protesters had been removed from the area by FBI agents and U.S. Marshals, resulting in the suspension of the pilot.^[7]
On June 2, 2020, 2 people died and one was seriously injured when a Vieques Air Link Piper Aztec crashed against two sailboats at San Juan Bay. It's not clear which of the two San Juan airports the flight was heading to.^[8] This marked the first incident involving fatalities for the airline in almost 36 years.

Related Research Articles

Transportation in Puerto Rico includes a system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ports and harbors, and railway systems, serving a population of approximately 4 million year-round. It is funded primarily with both local and federal government funds.

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport is a joint civil-military international airport located in suburban Carolina, Puerto Rico, three miles (5 km) southeast of San Juan. It is named for Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rico's first democratically elected governor, and was known as Isla Verde International Airport until it was renamed in February 1985. It is the busiest airport in the Caribbean region by passenger traffic. Over 4 million passengers boarded a plane at the airport per year according to the Federal Aviation Administration, making it the 48th busiest airport overseen by said federal agency.

Prinair is a Puerto Rican charter operator airline. It was Puerto Rico's domestic and international flag carrier airline for almost two decades from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. Despite previously ceasing scheduled commercial operations twice, it restarted charter flights in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culebra Air Services</span> Puerto Rican airline company

Culebra Air Services, established in 1998 as Air Culebra, is a small Puerto Rican airline company that operates out of the island of Culebra, in Puerto Rico, and the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, in San Juan. As of 2015, the airline is owned by pilot, captain Matthew Mulvey.

Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport is a public airport on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. Because a large amount of Vieques's yearly revenue comes from the tourism industry, this airport plays an important part in the Vieques economy. For decades, the airport has been the hub of Vieques Air Link, and also a destination for a number of small airlines.

Dorado Wings was a small commuter airline that operated from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Dorado Airport in the tourist center of Dorado, Puerto Rico. Dorado Wings was the only commercial operator at Dorado Airport. Dorado Wings existed under that name from 1964 to 1981. In early 1981, the airline was purchased and its name was changed to Crown Air which operated until 1988.

The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial aircraft types produced in Europe. Although designed in the 1960s, over 750 are still in service with commercial operators around the world. The aircraft is a light transport with over 30 military aviation operators around the world.

LIAT (1974) Ltd, also known as Leeward Islands Air Transport Services and operating as LIAT, was a regional airline headquartered in Antigua and Barbuda that operated high-frequency inter-island scheduled services to 15 destinations in the Caribbean. The airline's main base was V.C. Bird International Airport, Antigua and Barbuda, with a secondary base at Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados.

Air St. Thomas was an airline based on the island of St. Thomas, in the United States Virgin Islands. It operated regular and charter passenger services. Its main base was Cyril E. King Airport, St Thomas. It ceased operations in December 2005. The company, founded in 1975, was banned in March 2004 on the French airports and is since then blacklisted. This commuter air carrier had a very small fleet and did not operate long haul routes.

Seaborne Virgin Island Inc, operating as Seaborne Airlines, is a FAR Part 121 airline headquartered in Carolina, Puerto Rico, near the territory's capital of San Juan. It operates a seaplane shuttle service between St. Croix and St. Thomas. Originally headquartered on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, the company relocated to Puerto Rico in 2014.

Air Sunshine is an airline based in the United States and in Puerto Rico. It operates scheduled service to and from San Juan and Vieques, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Anguilla, Dominica, Sint Maarten, Nevis, St. Kitts, Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands and Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Its main base is Fort Lauderdale, with a Caribbean hub located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport is a public use airport on the island of Culebra in Puerto Rico. The airport is owned by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation airport. However, the airport does offer scheduled passenger service.

Air Flamenco is a commuter airline operated by Air Charter, Inc., based in Puerto Rico.

Puertorriqueña de Aviación, previously known as Aerovías Nacionales de Puerto Rico was an airline company that operated during the 1930s. It was the first documented attempt by Puerto Ricans to have a flag carrier in the country.

José Aponte de la Torre Airport is a public use airport owned by Puerto Rico Ports Authority and located 2.3 mi (3.7 km) from Ceiba, a coastal town in Puerto Rico. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation airport. The airport also offers scheduled passenger service via three commercial airlines to the islands of Vieques and Culebra, Puerto Rico.

Vieques Air Link Flight 901A was a flight from Vieques Airport in Vieques, Puerto Rico, to St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands that crashed on August 2, 1984, killing all nine passengers and crew on board.

Great Lakes Air was an American fixed-base operator and charter airline based in Mackinac County Airport in St. Ignace, Michigan.

Prinair Flight 277 was a regular passenger flight by Puerto Rican airline Prinair, between Harry S. Truman Airport in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Isla Verde International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico, a suburb of San Juan. On March 5, 1969, the flight, operated by de Havilland Heron 2D N563PR, crashed into a mountain near Fajardo, killing all 19 occupants on board.

Aviation in Puerto Rico has a complex and long history, almost as long as the history of aviation itself. Puerto Rican aviation history has been filled with events, well-known characters and airline companies which have shaped the country's transportation services and the way people travel between cities and to other countries.

On December 19, 1977, the 1977 Vieques Air Link crash took place when a Vieques Air Link Britten Norman BN-2A Islander crashed into the waters off the Atlantic Ocean near Vieques, Puerto Rico during a flight from St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands to Vieques.

References

↑ "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
↑ "BN Islander Historians 65 2000 June Vieques Air Link | eBay". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
↑ "Vieques Air Link: Schedule". Archived from the original on February 15, 2012.
↑ Suarez, Manuel (December 26, 1976). "What's Doing in PUERTO RICO". The New York Times.
↑ http://despiertaboricua.tumblr.com/post/11521423866/lista-de-atentados-terroristas-hacia-puerto-rico ^{[ user-generated source ]}
↑ "Aircraft Accident Report: Vieques Air Link, Inc., Britten-Norman BN-2A-6 Islander, N589SA. Vieques, Puerto Rico. August 2, 1984" (PDF). NTSB. September 27, 1985. Archived from the original on March 21, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
↑ "Archives - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times . May 7, 2000.
↑ "2 dead after small plane crashes in waters near Puerto Rico". ABC News .

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[FAA-1] "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved June 27, 2019.

[2] "BN Islander Historians 65 2000 June Vieques Air Link | eBay". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.

[3] "Vieques Air Link: Schedule". Archived from the original on February 15, 2012.

[4] Suarez, Manuel (December 26, 1976). "What's Doing in PUERTO RICO". The New York Times.

[5] ttp://despiertaboricua.tumblr.com/post/11521423866/lista-de-atentados-terroristas-hacia-puerto-rico ^{[ user-generated source ]}

[6] "Aircraft Accident Report: Vieques Air Link, Inc., Britten-Norman BN-2A-6 Islander, N589SA. Vieques, Puerto Rico. August 2, 1984" (PDF). NTSB. September 27, 1985. Archived from the original on March 21, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[7] "Archives - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times . May 7, 2000.

[8] "2 dead after small plane crashes in waters near Puerto Rico". ABC News .

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]