Huntsville Hospital Heliport

The heliport was not closed due to negative reasons but was made obsolete and replaced by a new, superior facility. In June 2021, Huntsville Hospital opened its new Orthopedic & Spine Tower, which includes a larger, state-of-the-art rooftop helipad. The new helipad was designed to meet modern standards and accommodate larger helicopters, including military Black Hawks, which the older helipad could not. The closure of US-11091 was a planned decommissioning as part of a major hospital expansion and modernization project, with all air ambulance operations being transferred to the new facility.

The physical site of the former heliport, located on the roof of the main hospital building, is now inactive and no longer certified for aviation use. It is simply part of the hospital's rooftop infrastructure. All helicopter operations for Huntsville Hospital now utilize the new, active heliport located atop the nearby Orthopedic & Spine Tower. The new, operational heliport has the official FAA Location Identifier (LID) of **02AL**.

As the primary rooftop heliport for Huntsville Hospital, a designated Level I Trauma Center for Alabama, US-11091 played a critical role in the regional emergency medical system for many years. It handled countless medical evacuation (medevac) flights, receiving critically ill and injured patients from across North Alabama and southern Tennessee. Operations were conducted by various air ambulance services, such as Med-Flight, transporting patients from accident scenes and transferring them from smaller regional hospitals. Its existence was vital for providing rapid access to the highest level of trauma care, significantly improving patient outcomes and saving lives.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening this specific heliport. It has been permanently and intentionally replaced by the new, more capable helipad (02AL) on the same hospital campus. The new facility is superior in size, safety features, and aircraft accommodation, making the reactivation of the old heliport unnecessary and redundant.