True Story: JFK Airport Once Ran a Tourist Tram Ride on the Tarmac

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York , NY, United States

September 7, 2012 at 10:28 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

So, remember when a couple weeks ago, some jet skiier out in the water by New York's JFK Airport managed to wander into one of the terminals and was only then caught by security? Yeah, that was a fun story. Here it is if you'd like to read it again for a chuckle.

Still there once was a time when people were welcomed onto the tarmac at JFK (n�e Idlewild) without having gone through so much as a scrap of security screening. This was through a Port Authority project called the Fliteseer, which was essentially a tram ride like you'd see at Universal Studios or Disneyland.

The Fliteseer not only piled in curious travelers with time to spare and average Joes who'd never flown, but it also inspired the first generations of jet plane spotters. For a tiny fee, the tram would take you on a tour of the airfield and down the flightline of boarding aircraft during peak periods. Of course you can probably guess that this went on during the late 1950s/early 1960s and was eventually ended due to security concerns.

The closest type of Fliteseer experience we can hope for today is heading out on a bus to board a small flight via airstairs.

Like this fun fact? Stay tuned for next week, when we dust out the cobwebs in the back of our brain to share some of the coolest random factoids picked up while in transit.

Jaunted

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