A Mystery?

[Hempy]

Going through alternates ex-Hawaii and I stumble across Johnson Atoll (Johnston Atoll
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_Atoll).

Apparently the aerodrome/runway closed in 2004 and Google Earth shows it (in seemingly reasonable nick) with x's all over it and all the buildings demolished.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k144/h3mpy/9D133404-6080-4E75-A7F1-254325826D93.png_zpspxklbtvb.jpeg

Which isn't surprising considering since the 50's it had been a secret US nuclear, chemical and biological weapon test, storage and ultimately disposal site. I found an interesting story about its 'secret' nature in an article by a Malibu pilot who diverted there with a fuel leak Secrets Of Johnston Island | PlaneAndPilotMag.com (http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/pilot-talk/x-country-log/secrets-of-johnston-island.html#.VNGRjFtdbCQ) , and in another contemporary article (http://www.landmine.de/archiv/oeffentlichkeitsarbeit/news/news-detailseite/article/us-atoll-destroying-super-mines-containing-vx-nerv.html) which states, in part

Johnston Island, only slightly larger than the runway down its middle, is 1330 kilometres (825 miles) south-west of Hawaii. Continental Air Micronesia flights from Honolulu to Majuro, in the Marshall Islands, land there, but while planes are re-fuelled passengers remain on board and armed guards surround the plane. A factory and bunkers line the south side of the runway, while 1,200 personal live to the north.

The Mystery? According to Wikipedia (not referenced and seemingly nowhere else on the internet)..

There were many times when the runway was needed for emergency landings for both civil and military aircraft, including one landing by a Qantas Boeing 747

Now, I can't find any history of this or have never heard anything about it (in 20 years in the industry). Can anyone here shed any light on this, or is it just an old wives tale?

This isn't 'Qantas bashing', I'm just interested in the story..

[Squawk7700]

Interesting place and a lot of (recent) history. I’d recently researched this place myself.

I’m thinking that there is confusion between the Delta 747 travelling from Honolulu to Osaka that had to land there…. Perhaps the Qantas references have come from this event where the windscreen cracked.

[Capt Fathom]

Squawk,

You have linked Palmyra Atoll near the Kiribati??

What is the significance of the photo above?

[Bushfiva]

Re the Delta, you're confusing some/all of the above with Henderson Field, which gets around one divert a year.

[Hempy]

It appears the Qantas link stemmed from here. Shortens the time frame.

Greg Zieber recalled, "I lived & worked on Johnston Island for 6.5 years, 1994 to mid 2000.

There were several times that the runway was used for emergency landings.

Small civil aviation type aircraft (Cessna for example), large commercial jet aircraft including a Qantas 747, and various military aircraft also used the airfield for bona fide declared emergencies.

Some examples were low on fuel due to high headwinds, loss of cabin pressure, passengers in need of medical attention, bird strikes etc.

Aloha Airlines also made weekly scheduled flights to the island carrying civilian & military personnel, and also for refueling before continuing down range to the Marshall Islands.

In the 1990's there were flights almost daily, and some days saw up to 3 aircraft."

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Western Pacific Islands (http://www.airfields-freeman.com/HI/Airfields_W_Pacific.htm)

[CitationJet]

No secrets now with Google Earth!

[FNQTech]

If my memory serves me correctly, the location and size of Johnson Atoll strip was the reason Air New Zealand was able to get 180 minute ETOPS approval on the B767 back in the late 1980's.