Pinchgut Lake, CA 🇨🇦 Closed Airport
CA-0618
-
614 ft
CA-NL
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 48.817° N, -57.990001° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: CK5 CK5
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The exact closure date is not publicly documented. The aerodrome was officially delisted from the Canadian Flight Supplement and other Transport Canada publications, likely in the early 21st century. Aviation databases have listed the aerodrome as 'closed' for over a decade, suggesting a de-registration sometime between 2005 and 2015.
The closure was almost certainly for administrative or private operational reasons. Small water aerodromes like this are typically registered by a private individual or a small commercial operator. The closure would have occurred when the owner/operator ceased using the location as a primary base, sold their aircraft, or simply chose not to maintain the official registration with Transport Canada. There is no evidence to suggest closure was due to a major accident, military conversion, or environmental issues. It was a cessation of the specific operation that required the official designation.
The physical site is Pinchgut Lake itself, a popular and accessible recreational lake located near the Trans-Canada Highway. The lake is heavily used for cottaging, boating, fishing, and swimming. The 'closure' of the aerodrome is administrative, not physical; it means the location is no longer an officially registered and maintained base for aircraft. However, the lake's surface remains available for use. Floatplanes can, and likely still do, land and take off from the lake on an ad-hoc, unregistered basis at the pilot's own discretion, which is a common and legal practice in Canada under Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
The aerodrome's significance was entirely local. It was never a major public transportation facility. Its purpose was to serve as a registered water base for floatplanes. Operations would have consisted of private recreational flights for local cottage owners and potentially small-scale commercial charter services, such as sightseeing tours or fly-in access for hunting and fishing expeditions in the surrounding Western Newfoundland wilderness. The identifier CA-0618 is a non-standard, database-generated code, further indicating its status as a small, privately managed facility rather than a public airport.
There are no known public plans or official prospects for reopening a registered water aerodrome on Pinchgut Lake. A formal reopening would require a new private or commercial operator to undertake the registration process with Transport Canada. Given that pilots can already use the lake without it being an officially registered aerodrome, the incentive to do so is low unless a new, significant commercial operation requiring an official base is established there. Therefore, the prospect of a formal reopening is considered very low.
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