Editing Diomede, Alaska (section)

=== External transport ===
Due to the remoteness and [[severe weather]], Little Diomede Island is very difficult and risky to access from the outside world. An average of 12–15&nbsp;[[knot (unit)|knot]] (6–8&nbsp;m/s; ) winds with [[gust (wind)|gusts]] up to 48–68&nbsp;knots (25–35&nbsp;m/s), a prevalent fog and cloudy sky limit transportation to a minimum. Even [[medical evacuation]] from such a location has its own difficulties.

Mail has been delivered to the island by [[helicopter]] since 1982 and is currently delivered weekly (up until 2013, mail was delivered by plane more frequently in winter months when the ice runway allowed for more deliveries).  The postal contract is one of the oldest in the nation, the only one that uses helicopters for delivering mail, and with a cost of over $300,000 annually, is the most expensive in [[Alaska]].<ref>[http://arctic.bio.utk.edu/AEO/Anchorage_News_EPenttila.htm Diomede mail run is often a white-knuckle ride] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705224330/http://arctic.bio.utk.edu/AEO/Anchorage_News_EPenttila.htm |date=July 5, 2008 }} James Macpherson, Alaska Journal of Commerce (2002) interviews a former Army pilot Eric Penttila</ref>

An annual delivery of goods and supplies is made by [[barge]] during the summer, which usually is the only [[cargo]] delivered during the year. When the supplies come, all the men rush down and pull them off and carry them up.<ref name="cristytrembly.com"/> Other visitors to the island include the occasional visits by [[research|research teams]], rare [[extreme tourist]]s and other [[Alaska Natives]] visiting from the mainland [[Alaska]].

Due to its location and weather conditions, transportation to the island is very expensive. Having very few economic development opportunities and a tight budget, the city charges non-business visitors arriving by plane or boat a $50.00 fee.<ref name="state1"/>

When U.S. [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Ted Stevens]] arrived to the island on October 29, 2002, for an overnight visit, he commented "I did not realize you were this remote". He arrived by a [[Alaska Air National Guard|National Guard]] [[UH-60 Black Hawk|Blackhawk]] helicopter, and it was the first time the island was visited by a statewide elected official.<ref name="usgennet.org" />

==== Helicopter ====
The main access to the island is by [[helicopter]]. Until the late 1990s, the bow of a shipwrecked old barge served as a temporary landing platform.  Today, the village has the Diomede Heliport constructed by the [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] in 2000 and owned by the [[Alaska Department of Transportation]]. The concrete-surfaced [[heliport]] measures 64&nbsp;feet x 64&nbsp;feet (20&nbsp;m x 20&nbsp;m). It is open to the public, has no [[control tower]] and is only about {{convert|0.6|mi|km}} from the [[International Date Line]] and less than {{convert|2.4|mi|km}} from [[Big Diomede]]. It is the closest United States heliport to Russia.

Since 2012, the [[United States Department of Transportation]] has subsidized scheduled weekly passenger service via helicopter between Diomede Heliport and [[Nome Airport]].<ref>
 {{cite web
 | url = http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOT-OST-2009-0260-0022
 | title = Order 2012-9-25
 | work = Docket DOT-OST-2009-0260
 | publisher = United States Department of Transportation
 | date = September 28, 2012
| quote = 
 }} – selecting Evergreen Helicopters, Inc., to provide Air Transportation to Noneligible Places (ATNEP) at Diomede, Alaska, for $377,520. Following this Order, the Department will enter into a contract with Evergreen and the applicable non-Federal party or parties (i.e., Kawerak, Inc., a relevant State of Alaska government entity, etc.) responsible for payment of its 50 percent share to ensure funding for ATNEP at Diomede based on {{USC|49|41736}}(a)(1)(B), in which the Department will only pay 50 percent of each monthly bill from Evergreen after the applicable non-Federal party or parties directly pays Evergreen the remaining 50 percent. Effective Period: Start of Service under this Order through June 30, 2013. Scheduled Service: Nome to Diomede to Wales to Diomede to Nome. Frequency: One round trip per week. Aircraft Type: [[BO-105]], 4-seat, twin-engine helicopter.
</ref><ref>
 {{cite web
 | url = http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOT-OST-2009-0260-0032
 | title = Order 2013-6-11
 | work =Docket DOT-OST-2009-0260
 | publisher = United States Department of Transportation
 | date = June 11, 2013
| quote = re-selecting Evergreen Helicopters, Inc., to provide Air Transportation to Noneligible Places (ATNEP) at Diomede, Alaska, with an annual subsidy of $377,520 per year for the period July 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014. Service is to consist of one round trip per week, 44 weeks per year, routed Nome to Diomede to Wales to Diomede to Nome with 4-seat B-105 helicopters.
 }}
</ref>

{{Airport destination list
| Pathfinder Aviation | [[Nome Airport|Nome]]
}}

==== Airplane ====
Currently there are no airports on Little Diomede Island because of the island's rocky, steep slopes. Most winters a temporary runway is cleared on top of the [[sea ice]] just off of the coast of the village, but in some years (e.g. winter 2009) ice conditions have prevented construction. Some [[bush pilot]]s have occasionally landed on the top of the [[tuya]] which is rocky, but has a somewhat flat surface during the snowy winter. The only way to land with an airplane during the few summer months is on water with a [[float plane]]. Any type of airplane landing on the island is very rare due to the high risk and severe weather. There have been studies on the construction of a permanent runway.

{{Airport destination list
| [[Bering Air]] | '''Seasonal:''' [[Nome Airport|Nome]] 
}}

==== Boat ====
There is no port in [[Little Diomede Island]], and surrounding thick [[Arctic Ocean|Arctic]] sea ice limits boat access to the island to only a few summer months. High waves and huge blocks of ice in the area make navigation very risky and difficult. Landing by boat is also difficult and dangerous because of the rocky shoreline of Little Diomede Island. The barge delivering supplies once a year and occasional other watercraft usually stay offshore due to conditions of the shoreline.