Gillespie Field
SEE · KSEE · San Diego/El Cajon, California · San Diego County · map
Gillespie Field is a public-use airport owned by the County of San Diego, 10 miles northeast of San Diego/El Cajon, California, 388 feet above sea level. It has 3 runways; the longest, 09L/27R, is 5,342 feet of asphalt. It has a control tower, fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A) and about 530 based aircraft. The FAA counts about 187,225 takeoffs and landings a year. About 101 passengers boarded flights here in the FAA's fiscal year 2024.
Weather right now KSEE · observed 11:47 am PDT (18:47 UTC), 51 minutes ago
MVFR flyable but watch the ceiling and visibility
- Wind from the south-southeast (160°) at 8 knots
- Visibility 6 miles
- Sky: a broken layer at 1,600 feet, overcast at 2,200 feet
- Weather: mist
- Temperature 66°F (19°C), dew point 61°F (16°C)
- Altimeter 29.79 inHg
No terminal forecast is issued for this station. The nearest forecast is usually at the closest larger airport.
The codes as issued (METAR and TAF)
METAR KSEE 111847Z 16008KT 6SM BR BKN016 OVC022 19/16 A2979
From the National Weather Service's aviation weather service, refreshed every few minutes; times are local to the airport with UTC in brackets. For a flight, get your briefing from Flight Service or an approved provider.
Flight planning warnings, pilot reports, winds aloft, restrictions · for planning, not a briefing
2 warnings in force over this field:
- AIRMET SIERRA 1E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist).
- AIRMET SIERRA 6E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist).
12 pilot reports within 100 nautical miles in the last three hours, the nearest three:
- urgent E75L at 500 ft, 12 nm southwest, 9:39 am PDT (16:39 UTC): a routine report.
- urgent B737 at 1,000 ft, 84 nm northwest, 11:56 am PDT (18:56 UTC): a routine report.
- M600 at 1,200 ft, 7 nm west, 11:54 am PDT (18:54 UTC): a broken layer above 1,200 ft.
Winds aloft at the nearest forecast point (SAN, 12 nm southwest), for use 14:00–21:00 UTC: 3,000 ft: 220° at 18 kt; 6,000 ft: 210° at 31 kt, 9 °C; 9,000 ft: 220° at 30 kt, 5 °C; 12,000 ft: 220° at 28 kt, 0 °C; 18,000 ft: 220° at 21 kt, -12 °C.
2 temporary flight restrictions within 50 nautical miles:
- 6/2652 Coyote Wells, CA, Saturday, July 4, 2026 through Saturday, January 2, 2027 Local 46 nm east · security · until 2 January
- 6/4812 El Centro, CA, Wednesday, July 15, 2026 through Tuesday, July 13, 2027 Local 49 nm east · security · until 13 July
The full picture: all warnings and reports, winds to 39,000 ft, radar and forecast charts
From the government's aviation weather service and the FAA's restriction list, refreshed every few minutes. This is for planning; the legal briefing comes from Flight Service or the FAA's own tools. Ordinary notices to air missions (closed runways, lights out) are not shown: the FAA's notice search is not open to sites like this one at this time.
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.
The airport
- Codes
- FAA SEE · ICAO KSEE
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Owner
- County of San Diego
- Elevation
- 388 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- A control tower · 7:00 am to 9:00 pm
- Attended
- every day, 7:00 am to 9:00 pm
- Lights
- runway lights see the remarks below; beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel and services
- 100LL avgas, Jet A; the services card below
- On the chart
- Los Angeles sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 13E
- In the FAA's files since
- December 1942
Runways 3
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09L/27R | 5,342 × 100 ft | Asphalt, good | Medium-intensity lights |
| 17/35 | 4,145 × 100 ft | Asphalt, good | Medium-intensity lights |
| 09R/27L | 2,738 × 60 ft | Asphalt, good |
- Runway 09L: PAPI, four lights on the right, tree 87 ft high 580 ft from the end
- Runway 27R: localizer with DME, PAPI, four lights on the left, right-hand traffic pattern, threshold displaced 706 ft, road 37 ft high 585 ft from the end
- Runway 17: PAPI, four lights on the left, threshold displaced 450 ft, building 15 ft high 201 ft from the end
- Runway 35: PAPI, four lights on the left, threshold displaced 685 ft, pole 30 ft high 510 ft from the end
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) · Tower | 120.7 | Gillespie |
| ATIS (recorded airport information) · See and aWOS-3P | 125.45 | Gillespie · General outlook on ATIS when the control tower closed. |
| Clearance delivery | 125.1 | Gillespie |
| Ground | 121.7 | Gillespie |
| Tower (secondary) | 123.8 | Gillespie |
| Approach and departure · Class B airspace 062-109 San 14,000 feet and below | 124.35 | Gillespie |
| Class B airspace 029-061 San 14,000 feet and below; 333-028 San 7,000 FT-11,000 feet | 132.2 | Gillespie |
| See and vot | 110.0 | |
| Departure procedure (CWARD) · Departure procedure (PADRZ) | 119.6 | Gillespie |
Automated weather (AWOS-3P), by phone 619-449-1228.
Based aircraft as counted for the FAA, fiscal year 2024
Based aircraft, as a table
| aircraft | |
|---|---|
| single-engine | 439 |
| multi-engine | 36 |
| jets | 24 |
| helicopters | 30 |
| other | 1 |
Takeoffs and landings a year about 187,225, 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 | 495 |
| general aviation, travelling | 66,983 |
| general aviation, local | 118,736 |
| military | 1,009 |
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.
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.
Aircraft registered in San Diego/El Cajon from the FAA register
No aircraft on the register list San Diego/El Cajon, CA as the owner's town.
Fuel and services as reported to the FAA
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A
- Repairs
- airframe and engine: major repairs
- Parking
- tie-downs
- Oxygen
- bottled oxygen (high- and low-pressure), bulk oxygen (high- and low-pressure)
- Also here
- air freight, air ambulance, avionics, charter flights, flight instruction, aircraft rental, aircraft sales, aerial surveying
Other fields with jet fuel nearby: Montgomery-Gibbs Executive (8 nm west), San Diego International (12 nm southwest), Ramona Airport (13 nm north).
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 California · avgas.
Examiners and inspectors nearby designated by the FAA · within 50 nautical miles
18 pilot examiners (the FAA's designated pilot examiners, who give the practical tests for pilot certificates) are based within 50 nautical miles: 18 for private pilot, 17 for commercial and instrument, 9 for airline transport pilot, 13 for flight instructor, 4 for sport pilot; 17 for airplanes, 11 for multi-engine airplanes, 1 for helicopters, 1 for gliders. Also nearby: 2 sport aviation examiners, 19 aviation medical examiners, 3 mechanic examiners, 1 airworthiness representative (maintenance), 4 airworthiness representatives (manufacturing), 6 engineering representatives, 1 parachute rigger examiner, 10 training center evaluators, 2 training center examiners, 10 administrative pilot examiners.
- Alejandro Silva private pilot; airplanes · Provectus Aviation Unlimited, LLC · El Cajon, CA (2 nm) · (619) 504-9129 · aboveall619@gmail.com
- Rodney Anderson private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, commercial pilot, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; helicopters · Circle Air · El Cajon, CA (2 nm) · (714) 757-0066 · helirod@aol.com
- David William Leonard private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, sport pilot, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · San Diego, CA (8 nm) · (619) 274-0804 · dleonard8765@gmail.com
- Gregory Michael Madariaga private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, sport pilot; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · San Diego, CA (8 nm) · (818) 402-4860 · global9065@yahoo.com
- Jay Eugene Brentzel private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · San Diego, CA (8 nm) · (619) 341-0320 · jaybrentzel@gmail.com
- John Warren Hardy private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · San Diego, CA (8 nm) · (858) 722-2571 · jhardy1332@icloud.com
- Mary Adene Schu private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, sport pilot; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Coast flight training · San Diego, CA (8 nm) · (541) 390-3980 · maryschuaviation@gmail.com
- Ronald Ray Greathouse private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · San Diego, CA (8 nm) · (619) 992-7030 · bigsurprise3@hotmail.com
All 76 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).
- 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.
- DPRE: Designated Parachute Rigger Examiner: tests candidates for the parachute rigger certificate.
- TCE: Training Center Evaluator: gives tests at a simulator training center.
- DCTO-E: Designee at a certificated training organisation.
- Admin-PE: Administrative Pilot Examiner: handles certificate paperwork rather than flight tests.
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.
Accidents and incidents at or near this airport NTSB records · 77 since 1982, 14 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
The FAA's remarks as written in the airport file, spelled out
- When the control tower closed activate runway end identifier lights runway 27R; PAPI runways 09L, 27R, 17 and 35; medium-intensity runway lights runway 09L/27R and runway 17/35 - the common traffic frequency.
- Runway unlighted; closed sunset to sunrise.
- Runway 17 end lights NON-STD, spread less than runway pavement width.
- Runway 17 +8 feet fence at 30 feet from runway end, 85 feet left.
- Runway 35 unlit 8 feet fence 1 feet south of runway end; +20 feet trees at 100-200 feet from runway end 130 feet left.
- PAPI unusable beyond 6 degreess right of crs.
- Unusable beyond 4 degreess left of centerline.
- Runway 17 approach ratio 20:1 to displaced thld.
- Runway 27R approach ratio 30:1 to displaced threshold.
- Runway 35 approach ratio to displaced thld over +30 feet pole 1203 feet from displaced thld 40 feet left 40:1.
- Runway 17-35 pattern altitude 1188 (800) sunrise to sunset, 1388 (1000) sunset to sunrise.
- Runway 27R centerline in close alnmt with trrn, use of localizer/DME highly recommended.
Connections how this airport links to the rest of the register
- NTSB accidents and incidents at or near this airport 77 since 1982 · 14 fatal
- Accidents and incidents in California 9,069 since 1982 · 1,094 in the last ten years
- Nearby landing places within 30 nautical miles 8 airports, heliports and seaplane bases
- Public-use airports in California 244 landing places
- California 27,552 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/airport/SEE.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 9, 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.