Nonstop flight route between Ipatinga / Santana do Paraiso, Minas Gerais, Brazil and Spokane, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Usiminas Airport (IPN), Ipatinga / Santana do Paraiso, Minas Gerais, Brazil and Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,549 miles (or 10,540 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 Usiminas Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base, 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 Usiminas Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base. 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 Usiminas Airport (IPN):

• In addition to being known as "Usiminas Airport", another name for IPN is "Aeroporto da Usiminas".
• The furthest airport from Usiminas Airport (IPN) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is located 11,996 miles (19,306 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• Because of Usiminas Airport's relatively low elevation of 784 feet, planes can take off or land at Usiminas 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 closest airport to Usiminas Airport (IPN) is Coronel Altino Machado de Oliveira Airport (GVR), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) NE of IPN.
• Usiminas Airport (IPN) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):

• The weapons storage area for the bombers was located south of the runway at Deep Creek Air Force Station, a separate installation constructed from 1950 to 1953 by the Atomic Energy Commission and operated by the Air Materiel Command.
• In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
• Fairchild AFB was established in 1942 as the Spokane Air Depot.
• On 15 March 1966, the 336th Combat Crew Training Group was established at Fairchild.
• The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
• At the time of the shooting, Fairchild's hospital was an ungated facility.
• The host unit at Fairchild is the 92d Air Refueling Wing assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force.
• Fairchild’s location, 12 miles west of Spokane, resulted from a competition with the cities of Seattle and Everett in western Washington.
• The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In June 1992, with the inactivation of Strategic Air Command, the B-52 portion of the wing became part of the newly established Air Combat Command and was re-designated the 92d Bomb Wing.