70 years ago on this day (1954), the first passenger plane landed at the new $11 million Wichita Municipal Airport on the southwest side of town. Construction of the new airport took three-and-a-half years.
The first passenger plant to arrive was a twin-engine Braniff Airways flight carrying 42 passengers from Dallas & Oklahoma City; it landed at 2:30 p.m.
About 18 passengers got off the plane at Wichita, the first of whom was Dove Wilson, sports director for radio station KANS.
In later years, the facility was renamed Wichita Mid-Continent Airport; it's now known as Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.