Eagle Pass Municipal Airport Eagle Pass Municipal Airport is a former airport , located in Eagle Pass , Texas . Airport operations ended around 1996 , being transferred to the Maverick County Memorial International Airport . Today the former airport is a commercial site . History . Eagle Pass Municipal Airport was established by the Air Service , United States Army in 1919 as a military airfield . It was constructed as a base for observation overflights along the Mexican Border . During this period , Mexico was enduring a period of revolution and unrest , which led to border violations and the deaths of American citizens . Flight " A " of the 90th Squadron ( Surveillance ) arrived at Eagle Pass Field on 27 August 1919 with de Havilland DH - 4 aircraft , and flew observation missions along the border . A very young James H . Doolittle was stationed at Eagle Pass with Flight A of the 90th . On one trip he is said to have flown under the Pecos River railroad bridge on a dare , and , apparently , without a reprimand from his superiors . One mission that Doolittle carried out as an engineering officer was to go into Mexico and recover a plane which had crash - landed . The Army ordered downed planes in Mexico destroyed to prevent the technology from being recovered by the Mexican government . However , when the plane was found , Doolittle thought it was repairable . Using carrier pigeon s for communications , he ordered a new Liberty engine for the aircraft , which was subsequently delivered by parachute to the landing site . Piloting the repaired airplane himself , Doolittle took off from a 400 - yard airstrip quickly hacked out of the terrain and flew back to Texas . The 90th operated from Eagle Pass until it was moved to Del Rio Field , Texas , on 12 Jun 1920 , although it was used sporadically until the Border Patrol operation ended in June 1921 . The next use of the airfield was when the Department of Commerce refitted the facility as one of its network of Intermediate Landing Fields , which were established in the 1920s & 1930s to serve as emergency landing fields along commercial airways between major cities . the 1934 Department of Commerce Airfield Directory described the " Eagle Pass Airport " as being located on the eastern edge of the city on Highway 85 , and described the airfield as being a rectangular sod field . It was closed during World War II due to security concerns . Sometime in 1945 , the airport was re - opened as commercial / municipal airport . It was described as having a 3 , 000 ' unpaved runway . The runway at Eagle Pass was evidently paved at some point , being described in January 1961 as having a 2 , 600 ' hard - surface runway . A secondary runway ( 12 / 3 ) was constructed , having a 580 ' asphalt , with a 1 , 730 ' turf extension in 1963 . Five hangars were depicted on a paved ramp along the west side . The operators were listed as Al Apts Aero Service & Border Aero Services . By 1985 , the main runway 16 / 34 had been lengthened to 3 , 025 ' , and the operator was listed as Bravo Aero Service . In the late 1990s , Eagle Pass Municipal Airport was closed and general aviation operations moved to Bowles Airfield , being renamed Maverick County Memorial International Airport ( FAA : 5T9 ) . With its closure the land was subdivided and redeveloped for other uses . Today the land is indistinguishable from its aviation past , being the site of a large US Post Office , a Walmart Supercenter and other commercial activities .