As mentioned in the main text, U.S. Customs and Border Protection no longer confers “permission to proceed” authority to aircraft entering U.S. territory at Adak Island in the Aleutian Chain. Previously, aircraft using Adak as a tech stop on the way back from Asia could arrange to take on fuel at Adak, then with prior arrangement, proceed to Anchorage to clear Customs. Here, courtesy of Universal Weather & Aviation, is the two-part message received last year from CBP:

BCA asked long-term forecaster Dave Houle at Universal Weather & Aviation for a summary of Alaska weather conditions that operators planning tech stops in the 49th state should be aware of. Here is his report: “Late fall and winter are the seasons that could potentially pose the most weather issues. There is a great difference in the amounts of precipitation between Anchorage, which is primarily coastal, and Fairbanks, which is located more in the interior of Alaska,” Houle began.

It’s likely that the most challenging application of business aviation ever attempted is the corporate shuttle service operated between Anchorage and Alaska’s North Slope tundra to transport oil field and Trans Alaska Pipeline workers to their jobs.