Mason City Municipal Airport resolution to create a new airport and purchased 312 acres several miles west of the city. The new Mason City Municipal Airport saw its first official landing a few years later on March 29, 1945. The airport consisted of two paved runways, associated taxiways, and a small ramp area. A remodeled farmhouse was used as the first commercial terminal during the airport dedication on June 22, 1946. Musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, along with pilot Roger Peterson, died in a plane crash after taking off from the Mason City Municipal Airport in the early
The plane crash (Neighbours) Morning Herald", enjoyed the storyline branding it "the plane crash we had to have." He also suggested Network Ten should have had a competition for viewers to select which characters should survive and die in a ""Big Brother" meets Agatha Christie" style. Anderson was upset at the thought of Susan Kennedy dying and questioned "They wouldn't kill her off, surely." A "Daily Record" reporter commented that while the Ramsay Street residents were not strangers to disasters, all previous events "pale in comparison" to the "shocking" plane crash. Brian Courtis from "The Age" was not a fan of the storyline giving