Moorabbin Airport

Moorabbin Airport is a general aviation airport for light aircraft located in between the Melbourne suburbs of Heatherton, Cheltenham, Dingley Village and Mentone, Australia. The airport grounds are treated as their own suburb, designated the postcode 3194. With a total of 274,082 aircraft movements Moorabbin Airport was the second busiest airport in Australia for the calendar year 2011.HistoryThe airport opened in December 1949. Originally the intent was to name the airport "Mentone" but this was abandoned after a potential clash with the then French airport Menton. Similarly, Cheltenham was discarded due to similarities to the UK airport Gloucester/Cheltenham. The name comes from the nearby Moorabbin, Victoria. The airport was renamed to Moorabbin (Harry Hawker) Airport on 22 January 1989, after pioneering Australian aviator Harry George Hawker. This was also the centenary date of Hawker's birth.Accidents and incidentsOn 19 October 1970, a Beech D50B light aircraft collided mid-air with a Bell 47G-3B-2 helicopter over the suburb of Moorabbin while on approach to Moorabbin airport. Both aircraft subsequently crashed to the ground and burst into flames. All 5 on board both aircraft died in the crash.