ICAO identifier
KCGX
Meigs Field
was a small
airport about 2 miles south of downtown
Chicago. It has been the default starting point in
Microsoft Flight Simulator ever since version 1. Its main customers were
personal flights, charter, and
business aircraft. It has been an important
reliever airport for the
Chicago area. Its proximity to downtown Chicago means that many business flights elect to terminate there instead of
O'hare or
Midway. In 2002,
Meigs field served 32,000 flights.
On March 31st, 2003, just after the
tower closed normally, with no warning at all
construction crews and
heavy equipment arrived and began tearing up the
runway under
police guard. By 1:30AM Meigs field was no longer an
airport. Sixteen airplanes were still stranded there and several businesses on the field have found themselves
out of business overnight.
Mayor Daley released a statement the next day citing "
Homeland Security" as his reason for destroying a historic airport. Most people quickly cried
bullshit since
Daley has long wanted to close Meigs and demolish it to build a
park. Mayor Daley stated that he destroyed the airport
at night with
no warning in order to save people the
endless debate of deciding what to do with the field.
The
FAA didn't even know until it was all over and wasn't able to issue a
NOTAM closing the field until several hours after the fact.