As The Whirl Turns: 9 Abandoned Heliports & Helipads

The Most Interesting Helipad In The World

abandoned helipad Sanur beach Bali Eggy Sayoga(image via: Eggy Sayoga)

Flickr user and uber-talented photographer Eggy Sayoga doesn’t always photograph abandoned helipads but when he does, the compositions he creates are simply spectacular… and most interesting indeed! According to Sayoga, this “abandoned helipad at Sanur beach looks functional but not maintained, lot of graffiti everywhere.”

Sanur beach Bali abandoned helipad(images via: EdnaZ and Agus Widhi)

A little graffiti won’t keep helicopters from using the pad, mind you, but it’s not like helipads are a rarity on islands like Bali. When rich & famous international jet-setters (an archaic term for “one-percenters”) shift their activities to another, more fashionable and trendy resort hot spot, the choppers are sure to follow.

Edgewater Whirlybird Nest

Edgewater Hospital Chicago abandoned helipad(images via: YrVelouria and Katherine of Chicago)

For decades Edgewater Hospital was one of Chicago’s most highly-regarded major medical centers; trivia geeks should note that both Hillary Clinton and John Wayne Gacy were born there, though not on the same day. The facility boasted a rooftop helipad that helped it airlift patients to its state of the art burn-care facilities. Every silver lining has its cloud, however. In the late 1990s investigators uncovered a huge Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme that involved unneeded operations and amputations being performed on homeless men from area methadone clinics! Edgewater was subsequently blacklisted from receiving patient referrals from Federal and State medical programs, forcing the hospital to close its doors AND its helipad.

Seattle Slewed

abandoned helipad Seattle Eastlake(images via: Xymon)

Flickr user Xymon snapped this slowly deteriorating helipad in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The pad is fighting a losing battle with Lake Union, a freshwater lake situated within Seattle’s city limits. To quote Xymon, the helipad is “not abandoned in the sense of no ownership, just no current usage per original intent.”