Brawley, US 🇺🇸 Closed Airport
US-10344
-
-99 ft
US-CA
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 32.959635° N, -115.544586° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: 59CL
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The airport was closed sometime between 1968 and 1981. It was listed as active in the 1968 Flight Guide but was no longer depicted on the 1981 Sectional Aeronautical Chart, indicating it had been abandoned during that 13-year period.
The specific reason for the closure is not officially documented. As a small, privately-owned airfield tied to an agricultural business, its closure was most likely due to economic factors. Common reasons for such closures include the cessation of the associated business operations (farming or crop-dusting), the land becoming more valuable for cultivation than for aviation, or the owners retiring or passing away.
The airport site has been completely and permanently returned to agricultural use. An examination of satellite imagery at the coordinates (32.959635, -115.544586) reveals irrigated farmland. There are no visible remnants of the runway, taxiways, or any airport buildings. The land has been fully integrated into the surrounding cultivated fields.
O'Connell Brothers Airport was a private airfield whose primary significance was supporting the extensive agricultural industry in California's Imperial Valley. It served as a base for general aviation and, most critically, for aerial application aircraft (crop dusters) that are essential for farming in the region. The airport was modest, featuring a single unpaved runway approximately 2,200 feet long. Its existence, noted on aeronautical charts from at least 1950, highlights the vital role private aviation played in mid-20th century American agriculture.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airport. The complete conversion of the land back to productive farmland, with no remaining aviation infrastructure, makes any future reopening extremely improbable. It would require the purchase of active agricultural land and the complete construction of a new airport facility from scratch.