Columbus Municipal
BAK · KBAK · Columbus, Indiana · Bartholomew County · map
Columbus Municipal is a public-use airport owned by the City of Columbus, 3 miles north of Columbus, Indiana, 656 feet above sea level. It has 2 runways; the longest, 05/23, is 6,401 feet of concrete. It has a control tower, fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A with additive) and about 69 general-aviation aircraft based on the field by the FAA's count. The FAA counts about 58,950 takeoffs and landings a year. About 15 passengers boarded flights here in the FAA's fiscal year 2024.
Quick answers answers refresh every morning
What is the airport code for Columbus Municipal?
Its FAA code is BAK, and its ICAO code is KBAK.
Where is Columbus Municipal?
It is 3 miles north of Columbus, Indiana, 656 feet above sea level.
How long is the longest runway at Columbus Municipal?
The longest of its 2 runways, 05/23, is 6,401 feet long.
Does Columbus Municipal have a control tower?
Yes, it has a control tower.
What fuel can you buy at Columbus Municipal?
The FAA's airport file lists 100LL avgas, Jet A with additive.
Are there flight schools at Columbus Municipal?
One flight school, flying club or college flight programme is based within about 15 miles of it: Bakalar Flying Club INC. Compare them
Where are the nearest FAA examiners to Columbus Municipal?
6 pilot examiners and 12 aviation medical examiners work within 50 nautical miles. See them by name
Weather and planning now, the forecast, warnings, pilot reports, winds aloft, restrictions
Fetching the weather now, the forecast, the warnings in force, pilot reports and the winds aloft for Columbus Municipal…
Wind map live wind over the area, from Windy.com
Colours show wind speed, the moving lines its direction; drag the time bar for the coming days. Map and forecast by Windy.com.
The airport facts, runways, radio, fuel and services, the FAA's remarks
The airport
- Codes
- FAA BAK · ICAO KBAK
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Owner
- City of Columbus
- Elevation
- 656 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- A control tower · 6:30 am to 10:00 pm
- Attended
- Sunday to Thursday, around the clock; Friday to Saturday, 6:00 am to 11:00 pm
- Lights
- runway lights see the remarks below; beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel and services
- 100LL avgas, Jet A with additive; the services card below
- Notes
- certified for airline service (Part 139)
- On the chart
- St Louis sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 3W
- In the FAA's files since
- February 1944
Runways 2
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05/23 | 6,401 × 150 ft | Concrete, excellent | High-intensity lights |
| 14/32 | 5,000 × 100 ft | Concrete, excellent | Medium-intensity lights |
- Runway 05: PAPI, four lights on the left, tower 74 ft high 3,040 ft from the end
- Runway 23: ILS, PAPI, four lights on the left, medium-intensity approach lights with runway alignment lights (MALSR)
- Runway 14: PAPI, four lights on the left
- Runway 32: PAPI, four lights on the left
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) · Tower | 118.6 | Columbus |
| UNICOM | 122.95 | · Aircraft services - UNICOM. |
| Approach and departure · Clearance delivery Contact approach control | 134.85 | Columbus |
| Ground | 121.6 | Columbus |
| Bak and aWOS-3 | 119.75 |
Automated weather (AWOS-3), by phone 812-376-7584.
Fuel and services as reported to the FAA
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A with additive
- Repairs
- airframe and engine: major repairs
- Parking
- hangars, tie-downs
- Oxygen
- bottled oxygen (high- and low-pressure), bulk oxygen (high- and low-pressure)
- Also here
- air freight, air ambulance, avionics, cargo handling, charter flights, flight instruction, aircraft rental, aircraft sales, aerial surveying
Other fields with jet fuel nearby: Greensburg Municipal (18 nm east), North Vernon Airport (19 nm southeast), Freeman Municipal (20 nm south).
The FAA's file records what is sold and done at the field, as the airport manager reports it, not who sells it or the price; fuel sellers (FBOs) are not named in any public file. Airports selling jet fuel in Indiana · avgas.
The FAA's remarks as written in the airport file, spelled out
- Sawrs available.
- When the control tower closed activate approach lights (MALSR) runway 23; runway end identifier lights runway 05, 14 and 32; high-intensity runway lights runway 05/23; medium-intensity runway lights runway 14/32 - the common traffic frequency. PAPI runway 5, 14, 23 and 32 on continuously.
- Birds on and in the vicinity of airport; hvy act aug and sep.
- Ficons not mntd 5:00 pm to 6:00 am.
- Aircraft services - UNICOM.
Flights and activity in the air now, the airlines, based aircraft, takeoffs and landings
Activity now checking the volunteer receiver network…
Within ten miles
- Looking…
Arrivals and departures, last hour
- Looking…
From the volunteer receiver network, a few minutes behind at most; aircraft whose owners asked the FAA not to be displayed are left out; no person is named. Open the live map here.
Based aircraft as counted for the FAA, fiscal year 2024
Based aircraft, as a table
| aircraft | |
|---|---|
| single-engine | 53 |
| multi-engine | 8 |
| jets | 5 |
| helicopters | 3 |
The FAA's count is the general-aviation aircraft kept on the field (singles, twins, business jets, helicopters) from its Terminal Area Forecast, the latest year with an actual count; airline fleets are never counted as based anywhere, so a big airline airport shows a small number. The register section below shows how many aircraft are registered to owners in town, a different measure again.
Takeoffs and landings a year about 58,950, the FAA's fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024)
Takeoffs and landings, as a table
| a year | |
|---|---|
| airline | 2 |
| air taxi and commuter | 278 |
| general aviation, travelling | 27,552 |
| general aviation, local | 27,982 |
| military | 3,136 |
Local flights stay in the traffic pattern or nearby, often practice; travelling flights arrive from or leave for somewhere else. Counts at airports without a tower are the FAA's estimates. How this compares nationally: Airports by the numbers.
Who flies and works here aircraft registered in town, the companies, the examiners nearby
Aircraft registered in Columbus from the FAA register
87 aircraft are registered to owners in Columbus, Indiana: 66 piston singles, 6 business jets, 5 balloons, 3 turboprops, 3 piston twins. Not every one of them is based at this airport; the based-aircraft count above is the FAA's figure for this airport alone.
Companies and organisations in town with two or more aircraft:
Individuals are counted, not named (the site's policy at this time). All aircraft registered in Indiana.
Who works here from the FAA's certificate lists and the register
Flight schools, flying clubs and college flight programmes based within about 15 miles:
- Bakalar Flying Club INC 1 aircraft · Columbus
Companies in the same town as this airport, and schools within about 15 miles of it (each placed at the main public airport of its town, or at the town's centre); not every one of them works from this field. All operators · all repair stations · all flight schools · all FBOs.
Examiners and inspectors nearby designated by the FAA · within 50 nautical miles
6 pilot examiners (the FAA's designated pilot examiners, who give the practical tests for pilot certificates) are based within 50 nautical miles: 6 for private pilot, 6 for commercial and instrument, 1 for airline transport pilot, 5 for flight instructor, 4 for sport pilot, 1 for type ratings; 6 for airplanes, 5 for multi-engine airplanes, 1 for seaplanes. Also nearby: 12 aviation medical examiners, 4 mechanic examiners, 3 airworthiness representatives (maintenance), 1 airworthiness representative (manufacturing), 1 engineering representative, 20 aircrew program designees, 2 training center examiners.
- Cory Alexander Irwin private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, sport pilot, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; airplanes · Indy South Greenwood Airport · Greenwood, IN (22 nm) · (812) 699-1711 · [email protected]
- James Carroll Buehler private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, sport pilot, type ratings, private pilot (proficiency), instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · JET ACCESS INDIANAPOLIS REGIONAL MQJ · Greenfield, IN (33 nm) · (317) 225-2757 · [email protected]
- Steven Edward Stombaugh private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, instrument instructor, instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Jet Access · Greenfield, IN (33 nm) · (317) 272-6180 · [email protected]
- Troy Macvey private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, sport pilot, instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes · Milan, IN (35 nm) · (515) 509-7027 · [email protected]
- David John Mino private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, instrument instructor, sport pilot, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport - UMP · Fishers, IN (43 nm) · (317) 691-3872 · [email protected]
- John Henderson private pilot, commercial and instrument, instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Brownsburg, IN (43 nm) · (812) 596-4627 · [email protected]
All 49 nearby, by kind, with contact details
What each kind does
- DPE: Designated Pilot Examiner: gives the practical tests (checkrides) for pilot certificates and ratings.
- AME: Aviation Medical Examiner: a doctor who issues the medical certificates pilots must hold.
- DME: Designated Mechanic Examiner: tests candidates for the mechanic certificate (airframe and powerplant).
- DAR-T: Designated Airworthiness Representative, maintenance: issues airworthiness certificates and approvals for aircraft in service.
- DAR-F: Designated Airworthiness Representative, manufacturing: issues airworthiness certificates for newly built aircraft and parts.
- DER-T: Designated Engineering Representative: approves engineering data for repairs and alterations on the FAA's behalf.
- APD: Aircrew Program Designee: an airline's own check pilot who gives the FAA's tests to the airline's pilots.
- DCTO-E: Designee at a certificated training organisation.
Designees are listed with the name and contact details the FAA publishes for them on its designee locator (read October 10, 2026): the FAA lists them so that pilots, mechanics and companies can find them. Private individuals are not named, the site's policy at this time. A designee who would rather not appear here can ask us through the contact address on the About page. Each designee is placed at the main public airport of the town the FAA lists (or the nearest one to its zip code), so "nearby" means the town, not an exact address. All examiners by state.
Safety record the NTSB's cases at or near this airport
Accidents and incidents at or near this airport NTSB records · 7 since 1982, 2 fatal
Cases the NTSB recorded with this as the nearest airport, newest first. Each opens the full report in plain English. The country as a whole: Where accidents happen.
Nearby within 30 nautical miles
Connections how this airport links to the rest of the register
- Aircraft registered in Columbus 87 aircraft · 66 piston singles, 6 business jets, 5 balloons
- Cummins INC 4 aircraft in town
- Bradley Aircraft Company LLC 3 aircraft in town
- Technav LLC 2 aircraft in town
- Macs Aviation LLC 2 aircraft in town
- Bakalar Flying Club INC 1 aircraft · flying club
- NTSB accidents and incidents at or near this airport 7 since 1982 · 2 fatal
- Accidents and incidents in Indiana 1,363 since 1982 · 176 in the last ten years
- Nearby landing places within 30 nautical miles 8 airports, heliports and seaplane bases
- Public-use airports in Indiana 131 landing places
- Indiana 5,695 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/airport/BAK.json.
Facts from the FAA's airport file effective October 1, 2026, written out in plain English; weather from the National Weather Service's aviation weather service; registered aircraft from the FAA register as of October 27, 2026; accidents from the NTSB's public database. Owners are shown only when they are an organisation; no person is named. Check the official sources before a flight: this page is for understanding an airport, not for planning one.