Aircraft Types and Operations
Aviation activities at Keesler AFB are conducted by the 403rd Wing, a tenant
at the Base, and a limited number of transient aircraft. Flight operation data
was collected in 2009. Table 3.2 shows the number of aircraft operations by
each category. Since the last Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ)
Study, the 45 Airlift Squadron is no longer a tenant at Keesler AFB, therefore,
the total number of average daily operations is nonexistent for the 45 AS
today.
Table 3-2
Overhead traffic patterns
Rectangular traffic patterns
Beam approaches
Transient Aircraft Operations
Numerous military transient aircraft arrive and depart from Keesler AFB
annually. Military aircraft of any type may visit the installation provided that
they are of adequate size to land and depart from the runway. In 2009,
military transient aircraft averaged four operations a day. General aviation is
also allowed in the flight routes, although they are not able to land on the
runway. Transient aircraft data that is displayed on Table 3‐2 includes both
military and civilian aircraft.
Keesler AFB Daily Average Aircraft Operation, 2009
403 WG
53 WRS 815 AS Transient Total
Operations 7.11 18.00 1.93 27.04 Closed Patterns 22.79 8.00 2.24 33.03 Source: 2010 AICUZ Study for Keesler Air Force Base
Total 29.90 26.00 4.17 60.07 Potential Future Operations
Although there are no current planned additional missions at Keesler AFB, the
installation is one of eight candidates being evaluated for a Battlefield Airman
training mission. Currently there are eight installations conducting Battlefield
Airman training, which the Air Force is looking to consolidate to three or four
to improve training efficiency.
Operation
Arrivals / Departures
Source: 2010 AICUZ Study for Keesler Air Force Base
Aircraft operations use the single concrete and asphalt runway,
Runway 3 / 21. The runway is oriented north‐south and is 7,630 feet in length
and 150 feet in width. Runway 3 is used approximately 30 percent of the time
and Runway 21 is used approximately 70 percent of the time.
Maintenance engine run‐ups are performed on aircraft by the flying units.
Approximately 0.06 percent of the run‐ups occur at night, between 10:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m. and approximately 99.94 percent of the run‐ups occur during
the day, between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Aircraft operations at Keesler AFB use the following flight patterns:
Straight‐out departure
Straight‐in approach
Precisions and non‐precisions instrument approaches
Background Report
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