History

The Origins of Aviation in Mazatlan

Text: Mario Martini (Grandeza Mazatleca)

The origins of aviation in Mazatlan have their roots in the middle of the 1920s and beginning of the 1930s.  The first airplane landings were done in bi-planes in what is today called the Palos Prietos neighborhood.

It is known that the first airport in Mazatlan was located behind what is today the Montuosa neighborhood.  Back then it was a marshy area.  Later the airport moved to firmer land on what are today the grounds of Ruben Jaramillo High School on Leonismo International Avenue.  Still later, due to population growth, it moved to its present location south of town, what is now called Rafael Buelna International Airport.

The first commercial airline that came to the area was Aeronaves of Mexico, which later became Aeromexico.  Mexicana was the second airline to arrive.  It was with Mexicana, back in 1935, that young 17 year old Alfredo Patron Rivas began to work as a traffic controller.  He had moved to Mazatlan 2 years earlier with his family from Union Americana.  His father was from Mazatlan and he had businesses in the port, but during the Mexican revolution he had had to leave the country.

Don Alfredo, better known back then as Chato, rapidly made his way up the ladder working for Mexicana and became regional manager, a post he held for 55 years until he retired.  All through those years, Chato Patron lived close to the development of the aviation industry here in Mazatlan.  He was there for the first pressurized planes.  It was a time when each takeoff was an event to behold.  Men dressed up in suits and ties and women wore fancy dresses along with high heels, hats and gloves just to watch the airplanes fly away.

Back then flyers were so scarce that they say airport personnel used to personally tell each passenger that the plane was leaving.

The first aviation accident that occurred in Mazatlan was when a bomb accidentally dropped from a plane back in 1914 during the revolution.  It landed on what is now the intersection of Canizalez and Carnaval..  Back in 1951 and second bomb exploded during an attack.