Nonstop flight route between Jackson, Mississippi, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hawkins Field (HKS), Jackson, Mississippi, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,697 miles (or 7,558 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 Hawkins Field 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 Hawkins Field 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 Hawkins Field (HKS):

• In addition to being known as "Hawkins Field", another name for HKS is "(former Jackson Army Air Base)".
• The furthest airport from Hawkins Field (HKS) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,975 miles (17,662 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In addition to the airfield, the building of a large support base with several hundred buildings, numerous streets, and a utility network was carried out with barracks, various administrative buildings, maintenance shops and hangars.
• Hawkins Field (HKS) has 2 runways.
• Jackson Army Air Base was the name of an abandoned military base in the movie Capricorn One, where they staged a fake Mars landing.
• The United States Air Force returned in the summer of 1953 when the Mississippi Air National Guard began utilizing certain facilities of Hawkins Field.
• Because of Hawkins Field's relatively low elevation of 341 feet, planes can take off or land at Hawkins Field 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 closest airport to Hawkins Field (HKS) is Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) E of HKS.
• Hawkins Field covers 602 acres at an elevation of 341 feet.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• On 1 April 1995, Eareckson AS was converted to contractor operations and maintenance, providing all support on the island.
• 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.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.