Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport is a public airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located 36 miles (58 km) west of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Miami

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, in Collier County

Collier County, Florida

Collier County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 251,377. The U.S. Census Bureau 2007 estimate for the county is 315,839...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department. The airport is near the border between Miami-Dade and Collier counties in central South Florida.

This isolated airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

, located within the Florida Everglades, was originally planned to be the largest airport in the world. Begun in 1968, the Everglades Jetport was to be a six runway airport for supersonic aircraft

Supersonic aircraft

A supersonic aircraft is designed to exceed the speed of sound in at least some of its normal flight configurations.-Overview:The great majority of supersonic aircraft today are military or experimental aircraft...

. Because of environmental concerns, construction was halted after the completion of just one runway. The facility remains in use today as an aviation training facility.

Facilities and aircraft

Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport covers an area of 24960 acres (10,101 ha) which contains one asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 paved runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 (9/27) measuring 10,499 x 150 ft (3,200 x 46 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2001, the airport had 14,468 general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

aircraft operations, an average of 39 per day.

Accidents

On January 22, 2008, a helicopter practicing maneuvers at the airport crashed, killing both occupants. A preliminary report stated the craft was seen practicing take-offs and landings when it suddenly flipped upside down and crashed, causing the helicopter to explode on impact.