Nonstop flight route between Charleston, West Virginia, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yeager Airport (CRW), Charleston, West Virginia, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,690 miles (or 7,547 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Yeager Airport and Eareckson Air Station, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Yeager Airport and Eareckson Air Station. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Yeager Airport (CRW):

• The closest airport to Yeager Airport (CRW) is Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) SSE of CRW.
• The city started construction in 1944.
• The airport sits on a hilltop over 300 feet above the valleys of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers, and the hill drops off sharply on all sides.
• Yeager Airport (CRW) has 2 runways.
• On August 10 1968, Piedmont Airlines Flight 230 was on an ILS localizer-only approach to runway 23 when it struck trees 360 feet from the runway threshold.
• On February 8, 2010, a Freedom Airlines Embraer ERJ-145 on flight 6121 to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport on behalf of Delta Air Lines with 46 passengers and 3 crew, rejected takeoff from Charleston at high speed and came to a safe stop about 400 feet short of the runway end.
• On July 13, 2009 Southwest Airlines Flight 2294 from Nashville International Airport to Baltimore-Washington International Airport was forced to divert to Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia after a hole formed on the top of the plane's fuselage near the tail resulting in depressurization of the cabin and deployment of the oxygen masks.
• Because of Yeager Airport's relatively low elevation of 981 feet, planes can take off or land at Yeager Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The furthest airport from Yeager Airport (CRW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,458 miles (18,440 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• Additional aircraft and personnel reductions occurred in 1945 and almost all air bases other than Alexi Point, Shemya and Davis in the Aleutians were reduced to caretaker status.
• The furthest airport from Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,668 miles (17,168 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• On 1 July 1994, the 11th Air Control Wing was inactivated and the 673d ABG was reassigned to Eleventh Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Because of Eareckson Air Station's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Eareckson Air Station at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.