On 25 October 1983, Marines from the 8th Marine Regiment landed nearby by helicopter and "captured" Pearls Airport during the United States invasion of Grenada, meeting only light resistance. The airport then consisted of a cinder block terminal/operations building and a fuel storage facility. The Marines seized two parked aircraft. One was an AN-26 Cubana Airlines turboprop which had arrived the day before from Havana with two high-level Cuban officials. The other was an AN-2R biplane, a gift to Grenada from the Soviet Union, ostensibly for agricultural spray use. During the ensuing period of hostilities, the Marines used the airfield as a base for offensive operations to complete subjugation of the eastern side of island. The principal American base was at Point Salines where a 9,000-foot runway and new terminal was nearing completion.