THE REOPENING OF PÅGAN AIRSTRIP

The people of Pågan welcome visitors to the reopening of their airstrip in 1967

Of all the islands north of Saipan, perhaps none has been given more attention in recent history than Pågan, with Agrigan coming in a close second.

The island is exquisitely beautiful, it is the largest of the northern islands and it is blessed with much agricultural and fishing potential. Since Spanish times, into the German and Japanese periods, many people have eyed Pågan as a place to make money or simply to live in a tropical paradise.

Except for, of course, those two volcanoes which wake up now and then!

THE JAPANESE AIRSTRIP

The Japanese were the first to lay out an airstrip, beginning in 1935. Around 200 Japanese and 400 Chamorros and Carolinians worked on the project, which involved very strenuous work since the ground was quite hard. When it was finished, the airstrip was not laid over with asphalt. The terrain was smoothed over in order for planes to land, but it was covered in grass.

Pågan Airstrip during World War II

The Japanese knew that war would be coming and the airstrip would be a good military asset. In 1937, the Japanese war preparation effort went into full gear and the Japanese began building a hangar adequate to house ten fighter planes, air raid shelters, pill boxes, anti-aircraft gun placements and four barracks for the eventual 2150 members of the Imperial Japanese Navy garrison stationed there.

In June of 1944, the Americans began bombing Pågan. The Japanese had launched a few air strikes from Pågan aimed at American targets in the southern islands, so the Americans knew they had to take the Pågan airstrip out of business. By August 15, after the Japanese Government in Tokyo surrendered, the Americans began dropping leaflets on Pågan announcing the war's end. By September 3, the Japanese forces on Pågan (short on food by then) peacefully gave themselves up to the American ship that came to accept their surrender.

The Japanese airstrip taking a beating from American bombs in 1944

The airstrip, already partly damaged with bomb craters, was left to decay.

The Japanese left but the Chamorros and Carolinians stayed, their numbers slowly increasing over time. But the only way to get to or leave Pågan by then was by boat.

A TYPHOON INSPIRES AN IDEA

In 1965, Typhoon Carmen blew over Pågan.

The Trust Territory Government knew it needed to bring material relief to the people of Pågan. They did it by boat. But the idea came to the government to explore the possibility of rehabilitating the old Japanese airstrip and resume air transportation to the island.

The District Legislature in Saipan appropriated $7000 and Frank Kaipat was appointed project manager by the District Administrator, Peter Coleman. Some 30 residents of Pågan, and a few Peace Corps volunteers, were involved in smoothing out the airstrip once again. The work began in August of 1966.

The Peace Corps volunteers, by the way, gave the idea of reopening the air strip a push by way of the reopening of Pagan's school. Prior to that, school children in the northern islands were sent to Saipan for schooling, away from their parents. The parents had had enough of that and the Peace Corps volunteers also moved to have schools in the northern islands reopen. All the more reason, then, to have a functional airstrip in Pagan.

Six months later, in February of 1967, Emmet Kay, owner of Micronesian Airlines and pilot of his own plane, the Spirit of Faith, landed in Pågan, the first plane to do so since the war. It was an initial visit, and Emmet flew back to Saipan a child in need of medical care.

FIRST PLANE LANDING ON PAGAN SINCE WW2

(L-R) Peter Coleman, Fr Arnold Bendowske, Emmet Kay

On April 3, 1967, the formal opening of the Pågan airstrip was celebrated. Once again, Emmet Kay flew his plane up. On-board were government representatives from Saipan. The people of Pågan, around 80 all told, came out to welcome the plane and the visitors. Father Arnold of Saipan was on-hand to bless the airstrip.

The airstrip in 1970

Micronesian Airlines started flying regularly to Pågan from Saipan, at first usually once a week. In 1980, the Federal Aviation Administration filed its last report on Pågan airstrip. According to this report, there were two runways on Pågan made of turf and gravel, about 1500 feet long.

There were, on average, 20 flights to Pågan each month, or around 240 a year in those days.

But then, in 1981, Pågan's volcano exploded violently. It continued to erupt every few years for a long time. The residents were evacuated to Saipan since then. Although a few people live on Pågan today, sometimes just for a limited period, the airstrip is used only rarely for brief visits. Most people who travel to Pågan today do so by boat. Mother Nature is reclaiming the airstrip, and it will have to be cleared and smoothed out once again if it is to be used in the future.

Pågan Airstrip