Airports appear on Google Earth?

Aviation General Aviation
1

Sometimes on Google Earth, I have noticed several airport icons referencing airstrips that I KNOW don’t exist. Either I have physically been to that spot on foot, or just from the appearance of the picture there CANNOT be an airstrip there (middle of a forest).

I try to look up the resource in either AIRNAV or some backcountry strip information, but there is none.

I have tried to report these errors to GOOGLE but they apparently don’t care - they are never removed.

Anyone else ever experience this? Bad airport information in Google Earth (and by extension, Google Maps)

2

My bet would be that Google gets some of their map data from the USGS topographical maps. My current USGS topo maps show airfields that haven’t existed in over 20 years.

Depending on a US Government service for accurate, up-to-date information often leads to problems. :wink:

3

Don’t some of those pins come from everyday users? You know how it works, you are going to pin Aunt Berthas house, your finger slips and now she lives in Lake Michigan.

4

Check out Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields to see if an airfield did exist there at one time. This is a great site!

And, as Tiptank says, the USGS maps quite often do show deceased air strips.