Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport is a general aviation airport located within the city limits of Fort Lauderdale, in Broward County, Florida, United States, north of downtown Fort Lauderdale. It is a division of the Transportation and Mobility Department of the City of Fort Lauderdale. Overview The airport was built in 1941 to train Naval Aviators during World War II, and was named West Prospect Satellite Field. In 1947, the federal government deeded the airport to Fort Lauderdale for use as a public airport. The airport serves over 150,000 aircraft operations per year, making it the eighth-busiest General Aviation center in the United States. The airport is designated as general aviation reliever facility for the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport by the FAA. The airport is a Landing Rights Airport with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility. The airport also operates a 24/7 ARFF facility that meets the requirements of index B, although the airport is not certificated under FAR Part 139. ARFF services are provided by Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue. The airport is home to two rare Florida native species of animal, the gopher tortoise and the Florida burrowing owl. Facilities and aircraft Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport covers an area of which contains two asphalt paved runways: 09/27 measuring and 13/31 measuring . The airport is ideal for flight training because of its 24-hour air traffic control tower and has multiple instrument approaches. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2017, the airport had 179,023 aircraft operations, an average of 490 per day: 94% general aviation, 6% air taxi and <1% military. There are 909 aircraft based at this airport: 52% single-engine, 26% multi-engine, 16% jet and 5% helicopter. Airlines and destinations Accidents and incidents On June 12, 1979, Douglas DC-3D N427W of Bradley Aviation crashed shortly after take-off when take-off was attempted at too low an airspeed. Both crew were killed. The pilot did not have a rating to fly the DC-3, and the aircraft did not have a certificate of airworthiness. February 3, 1981 : A mid-air Cessna plane collision killed six people at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. Dale C. Hiatt and his father Alvia Hiatt were among those killed. On February 20, 2004, a Learjet 25B owned by Skylinks Jets overran runway 8 by about . The aircraft touched down midway along the runway. A complete loss of brakes and a failed emergency drag-chute resulted in the aircraft