'Alligator Alcatraz' eats valuable Florida runway

The lone runway at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport was closed on June 23. The notam expires September 30, though it is not at all clear if the runway will reopen once the detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by state officials is built, with tents and other temporary structures planned to house 5,000 inmates by July. Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the prison plan during a June 25 press conference on unrelated legislation in Tampa.

AOPA Southern Regional Manager Stacey Heaton and the AOPA Pilot Information Center have fielded numerous calls and messages from members concerned about the loss of access to the only runway for miles around. The airfield along a commonly used route between the Naples and Miami areas is one of the only options available for precautionary or emergency landings. While AOPA understands that the state of emergency enables the governor to take such action, it has raised the concern for flight safety in letters to officials seeking clarification that the runway would remain available for emergency use. Runway 9/27 is also a runway frequently used by pilots training at the various coastal flight schools, which face increasing pressure to curtail operations in communities that generate noise complaints.

"Our members are also concerned about flight restrictions that may be imposed around the airport once the detention center is operational," Heaton said. 

Heaton said calls to the county’s aviation department, which owns and operates the federal grant-obligated airport, were directed to the state, which is negotiating the purchase of the airport from the county. Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie did not immediately respond to a June 25 email from Heaton inquiring whether the runway would reopen following expiration of the current notam, and whether the state intends to return the airport to public use after its planned acquisition. DeSantis, responding to concerns raised by environmental groups about potential damage to the Everglades that might be caused by housing thousands of prisoners on airport property, told reporters in Tampa that the state began considering acquiring the airport before the federal government's call to create more prison beds, with an eye on closing it permanently and allowing the Everglades to overgrow the property.

"As the State has aptly pointed out: the area is home to many alligators and pythons and our members would rather not contend with these creatures in cases of unplanned landings," Heaton wrote, also noting the runway's important role in flight training—and alleviating noise impacts on communities. "For these reasons, we hope the State will consider returning TNT to public use."

The Associated Press reported that DeSantis invoked emergency powers to commandeer the county-owned airport, and various private vendors will manage the facility at an expected cost of $450 million per year, or $245 per bed daily.