First Flight Airport
FFA · KFFA · Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina · Dare County · map
First Flight Airport is a public-use airport owned by the National Park Svc., 1 mile west of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, 12 feet above sea level. Its one runway, 03/21, is 3,000 feet of asphalt. The FAA counts about 37,500 takeoffs and landings a year.
Quick answers answers refresh every morning
What is the airport code for First Flight Airport?
Its FAA code is FFA, and its ICAO code is KFFA.
Where is First Flight Airport?
It is 1 mile west of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, 12 feet above sea level.
How long is the runway at First Flight Airport?
Its one runway, 03/21, is 3,000 feet long, asphalt.
Does First Flight Airport have a control tower?
No, it has no control tower.
Are there flight schools at First Flight Airport?
3 flight schools, flying clubs or college flight programmes are based within about 15 miles of it, including Kitty Hawk Flight School LLC and Kitty Hawk Flight Training and Tours LLC. Compare them
Where are the nearest FAA examiners to First Flight Airport?
1 pilot examiner and 6 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 First Flight Airport…
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 FFA · ICAO KFFA
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Owner
- National Park Svc.
- Elevation
- 12 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- No control tower
- Attended
- unattended
- Fuel and services
- no fuel reported; the services card below
- On the chart
- Washington sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 11W
Runway
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/21 | 3,000 × 60 ft | Asphalt, good |
- Runway 03: trees 59 ft high 296 ft from the end
- Runway 21: right-hand traffic pattern, trees 37 ft high 362 ft from the end
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) | 122.9 | |
| Approach and departure | 124.725 | |
| Ffa and aWOS-3 | 118.075 |
Automated weather (AWOS-3), by phone 252-449-0698.
Fuel and services as reported to the FAA
- Fuel
- none reported
- Repairs
- none at the field, as reported
- Parking
- tie-downs
Nearest fields reporting jet fuel: Dare County Regional (6 nm south), Elizabeth City CG Air Station/Rgnl (28 nm northwest), Currituck County Regional (28 nm northwest), Northeastern Regional (44 nm west).
Nearest fields reporting avgas: Dare County Regional (6 nm south), Elizabeth City CG Air Station/Rgnl (28 nm northwest), Currituck County Regional (28 nm northwest), Hyde County (31 nm southwest).
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 North Carolina · avgas.
The FAA's remarks as written in the airport file, spelled out
- VFR operations only.
- Maximum of 24 hours parking pmtd. No more than two overnight stays per month.
- Ntl parks service NR answered 7 days a week between 0800 to 1700.
- 10 feet road 125 feet R; 0-200 feet from threshold and 35 feet trees 82 feet from threshold offset 206 feet L.
- 37 feet trees 109 feet from threshold offset 213 feet R.
- Site of First Flight by wright brothers.
- Restroom facility on site; key code aces to pilot lounge.
- Hang gliding and powered hang gliding to 4000 feet in the vicinity of airport from sunrise to sunset year round.
- Airport closed 30 minimum aft sunset until 30 minimum before sunrise.
- 100 feet+ marked transmission power lines west/hazard balls, lights 1300 feet from threshold in approach area runway 21; 300 feet tower and tank 1/2 MI north of runway 21 threshold.
- Holdlines runway 21 are 115 feet from centerline.
- Runway 21 has 10 feet deep ditch 400 feet from threshold.
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
No based-aircraft count is published for this airport.
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 37,500, the FAA's fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024)
Takeoffs and landings, as a table
| a year | |
|---|---|
| general aviation, travelling | 14,000 |
| general aviation, local | 23,000 |
| military | 500 |
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 Kill Devil Hills from the FAA register
13 aircraft are registered to owners in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina: 10 piston singles, 3 weight-shift and powered parachutes. 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 North Carolina.
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:
- Kitty Hawk Flight School LLC 6 aircraft · Kill Devil Hills
- Kitty Hawk Flight Training and Tours LLC 2 aircraft · Kill Devil Hills
- Obx Airplanes LLC 5 aircraft · Manteo, 7 miles away OBX Airplanes operates scenic air tours and biplane rides over the Outer Banks from Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo, North Carolina.
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
1 pilot examiner (the FAA's designated pilot examiners, who give the practical tests for pilot certificates) is based within 50 nautical miles: 1 for private pilot, 1 for commercial and instrument, 1 for airline transport pilot, 1 for flight instructor, 1 for sport pilot; 1 for airplanes, 1 for multi-engine airplanes. Also nearby: 1 sport aviation examiner, 6 aviation medical examiners, 2 mechanic examiners.
- Steven Arthur Martin private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, sport pilot, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Hampton Roads Exec. Airport · Chesapeake, VA (45 nm) · (757) 717-7274 · [email protected]
All 10 nearby, by kind, with contact details
What each kind does
- DPE: Designated Pilot Examiner: gives the practical tests (checkrides) for pilot certificates and ratings.
- SAE: Sport Aviation Examiner: gives the tests for sport pilot certificates and light-sport aircraft.
- 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).
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 · 11 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 Kill Devil Hills 13 aircraft · 10 piston singles, 3 weight-shift and powered parachutes
- Kitty Hawk Flight School LLC 3 aircraft in town
- Kitty Hawk Flight School LLC 6 aircraft · flight school
- Kitty Hawk Flight Training and Tours LLC 2 aircraft · flight school
- Obx Airplanes LLC 5 aircraft · flight school
- NTSB accidents and incidents at or near this airport 11 since 1982 · 2 fatal
- Accidents and incidents in North Carolina 1,759 since 1982 · 303 in the last ten years
- Nearby landing places within 30 nautical miles 8 airports, heliports and seaplane bases
- Public-use airports in North Carolina 106 landing places
- North Carolina 7,117 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/airport/FFA.json.
Facts from the FAA's airport file effective October 29, 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 30, 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.