PENN TWP — The Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport has seen many comings and goings during the 91 years of its existence, even though the first flight in Butler County predates the facility.

In a history compiled by the late Dick May, a longtime airport authority member and county historian, May writes the first flight in Butler County took place in 1909 when Roy Knabenshu, a pioneer designer who had worked with the Wright brothers, flew over Butler in a one-man dirigible.

Aviation had made considerable strides from one-man gas bags when the Pittsburgh-Butler Airport opened Sept. 27 and 28, 1929, on a 230-acre site in Penn Township.

It was established by Pittsburgh Aviation Industries Corp.

Famed aviator Amelia Earhart received her instrument training at the Butler County facility in addition to having long-range fuel tanks installed on her Lockheed 5B Vega.

During World War II, Butler County contracted with the federal government in general to transition the Butler airport into a cadet primary training facility.

Primary pilot training taught the basics of flight in two-seat aircraft.

Butler was one of the sites where the fledgling pilots were given their first opportunity to wash out of the program.

Recruits were housed in dorms and bused in from Grove City and Slippery Rock Colleges.

After the war, the late John Graham of Graham Aviation purchased the airport and ran Graham Aviation from 1969 to 1980.

The Butler County Airport Authority was formed in 1949 and purchased the runway, which it paved in 1950. In 1980, the authority acquired the entire airport.

For many years, the airport served as the home for the Penn Township Volunteer Fire Department's annual Megacruise fundraisers.

The airport has also been a regular stop for the Wings of Freedom tour of World War II vintage bombers and fighters.

One plane was flown into the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport and left with a different owner.

Carl Baker of Lancaster Townhip won a vintage 974 Piper Warrior airplane in a charity raffle and it was delivered July 1, 2020, at the airport.

Baker won the white plane with orange detailing and plaid 1970s seats through a nationwide raffle operated twice per year by Wings of Hope charity.

But not all aircraft landings at the airport were happy ones.

A 1979 Cessna 340A twin-engine aircraft, careened off the 4,801-foot runway and over the embankment March 16, 2015, during an aborted takeoff. The pilot, owner and sole occupant — 60-year-old Safdar Khwaja of Murrysville — was not injured.

The $250,000 plane remained half in a ditch on the hillside as officials ironed out a plan to move it as the FAA completed its on-site investigation.

Removal took a dozen skilled men, several hours and a 275-ton crane.

And in 2007, a small medical jet left the airport runway for a trip along Three Degree Road.

The Jan. 24 flight originated at the Winchester Regional Airport in Winchester, Va. The plane was intended to pick up a patient waiting in an ambulance at the Butler airport.

However, the plane crashed through a wooden platform containing the airport's instrument landing antenna and the perimeter fence, crossed Three Degree Road and caught fire as it stopped behind the Penn Township Fire Department, about 400 feet past the end of the runway.

The four people aboard, all Virginia residents and employees of Air Trek Air Ambulance, survived.

But a few mishaps over the years haven't prevented the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport from becoming an economic engine in the county.

It might seem unfathomable to some, but the airport generates $39 million annually, according to a 2011 study.

According to the study, 228 people are employed as a result of the airport's presence, with a combined payroll of about $9.2 million.

By 2016, the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport Authority board has renamed the facility The Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport to more accurately reflect the scope of its business, said Ike Kelly, airport manager and board member.

Kelly said the airport has seen increasing corporate traffic for travelers whose final destinations are Pittsburgh and Cranberry Township, and wanted to revise its name to reflect that fact.

The name change will not affect the Butler County Airport Authority.

The authority continues to own and operate the facility, which is home to more than 100 aircraft.