San Carlos Airport
SQL · KSQL · San Carlos, California · San Mateo County · map
San Carlos Airport is a public-use airport owned by San Mateo County, 2 miles northeast of San Carlos, California, 6 feet above sea level. Its one runway, 12/30, is 2,621 feet of asphalt. It has a control tower, fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A, Jet A with additive, UL94 unleaded avgas) and about 260 based aircraft. The FAA counts about 91,746 takeoffs and landings a year. About 2,505 passengers boarded flights here in the FAA's fiscal year 2024.
Weather right now KSQL · observed 9:47 am PDT (16:47 UTC), 32 minutes ago
VFR good flying weather
- Wind from the east-southeast (110°) at 5 knots
- Visibility 10 miles or more
- Temperature 57°F (14°C), dew point 48°F (9°C)
- Altimeter 29.59 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 KSQL 111647Z 11005KT 10SM SKC 14/09 A2959 RMK CHECK NOTAMS AND TFRS FOR RESTRICTIONS DUE TO FLEET WEEK EVENTS
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
No SIGMET or AIRMET covers this field right now.
2 pilot reports within 100 nautical miles in the last three hours:
- C525 at 3,200 ft, 59 nm south, 10:00 am PDT (17:00 UTC): a broken layer from 2,000 ft to 3,200 ft.
- GLF5 at 0 ft, 59 nm south, 8:10 am PDT (15:10 UTC): overcast above 2,700 ft.
Winds aloft at the nearest forecast point (SFO, 9 nm northwest), for use 14:00–21:00 UTC: 3,000 ft: light and variable; 6,000 ft: 020° at 8 kt, 5 °C; 9,000 ft: 300° at 7 kt, 3 °C; 12,000 ft: 270° at 12 kt, -2 °C; 18,000 ft: 270° at 25 kt, -13 °C.
3 temporary flight restrictions within 50 nautical miles:
- 6/7231 Santa Clara, CA, Sunday, October 11, 2026 through Monday, October 12, 2026 UTC 14 nm southeast · drones kept away from a public gathering
- 6/6741 SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Thursday, October 8, 2026 through Sunday, October 11, 2026 Local 15 nm northwest · air shows/sports
- 6/7455 SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Thursday, October 8, 2026 through Sunday, October 11, 2026 Local 18 nm northwest · security
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 SQL · ICAO KSQL
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Owner
- San Mateo County
- Elevation
- 6 feet above sea level
- Pattern altitude
- 800 feet above the airport
- Control tower
- A control tower · 7:00 am to 9:00 pm
- Attended
- every day, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm
- Lights
- runway lights see the remarks below; beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel and services
- 100LL avgas, Jet A, Jet A with additive, UL94 unleaded avgas; the services card below
- On the chart
- San Francisco sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 15E
- In the FAA's files since
- July 1952
Runway
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/30 | 2,621 × 75 ft | Asphalt, fair | Medium-intensity lights |
- Runway 12: VASI, two boxes on the left, pole 18 ft high 565 ft from the end
- Runway 30: VASI, two boxes on the left, right-hand traffic pattern
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) · Tower | 119.0 | San Carlos |
| UNICOM | 122.95 | |
| ATIS (recorded airport information) | 125.9 | San Carlos |
| Ground | 118.025 | San Carlos |
| Approach | 133.95 | San Carlos |
| Approach (secondary) · Departure | 135.65 | San Carlos |
Automated weather (AWOS-3P), by phone 650-593-0613.
Based aircraft as counted for the FAA, fiscal year 2024
Based aircraft, as a table
| aircraft | |
|---|---|
| single-engine | 238 |
| multi-engine | 14 |
| jets | 2 |
| helicopters | 6 |
Takeoffs and landings a year about 91,746, the FAA's fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024)
Takeoffs and landings, as a table
| a year | |
|---|---|
| airline | 12 |
| air taxi and commuter | 5,422 |
| general aviation, travelling | 33,075 |
| general aviation, local | 53,204 |
| military | 33 |
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 Carlos from the FAA register
44 aircraft are registered to owners in San Carlos, California: 40 piston singles, 2 gliders, 2 business jets. 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 California.
Fuel and services as reported to the FAA
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A, Jet A with additive, UL94 unleaded avgas
- Repairs
- airframe and engine: minor repairs
- Parking
- tie-downs
- Oxygen
- bulk oxygen (low-pressure)
- Also here
- charter flights, flight instruction, aircraft rental, aircraft sales
Other fields with jet fuel nearby: Palo Alto Airport (7 nm southeast), San Francisco International (9 nm northwest), Hayward Executive (11 nm northeast).
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.
Who works here from the FAA's certificate lists and the register
Flight schools, flying clubs and college flight programmes in San Carlos, by their names on the register:
- Pelican Flight Training LLC 3 aircraft
- San Carlos Flight Center INC 2 aircraft San Carlos Flight Center is a flight school and flying club based at San Carlos Airport in California.
Companies in the same town as this airport; 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
9 pilot examiners (the FAA's designated pilot examiners, who give the practical tests for pilot certificates) are based within 50 nautical miles: 9 for private pilot, 7 for commercial and instrument, 3 for flight instructor, 3 for sport pilot; 8 for airplanes, 3 for multi-engine airplanes, 1 for seaplanes, 1 for helicopters. Also nearby: 1 sport aviation examiner, 24 aviation medical examiners, 4 mechanic examiners, 2 airworthiness representatives (maintenance), 1 airworthiness representative (manufacturing), 2 engineering representatives, 1 aircraft dispatcher examiner, 2 administrative pilot examiners.
- James Courtney Higgins private pilot, commercial and instrument, instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes · San Carlos, CA (0 nm) · (530) 307-9776 · jimhiggins3@gmail.com
- R Rohlfing private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, instrument instructor, sport pilot, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · West Valley Flying Club - SQL · San Carlos, CA (0 nm) · (408) 234-8423 · scott@attheready.com
- Michael Healey private pilot, commercial and instrument, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; airplanes, seaplanes · WP 27 Oakland FSDO · Foster City, CA (3 nm) · (650) 430-2730 · mikehealeydpe@gmail.com
- Evan Paraskevopoulos private pilot, commercial pilot, instructor renewals, ground instructor; helicopters · Hayward, CA (11 nm) · (408) 887-0903 · epara@aol.com
- Terence Wilson private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, instructor renewals; airplanes · Sundance Air Services · Alameda, CA (14 nm) · (925) 223-7145 · terence.wilson@gmail.com
- Clayton Miles Conrad private pilot, commercial and instrument, sport pilot, instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · San Jose, CA (23 nm) · (140) 866-6696 · clayton.conrad@protonmail.com
- Jennifer Rayne Watson private pilot, commercial and instrument, sport pilot, instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · AeroDynamic Aviation · San Jose, CA (23 nm) · (916) 399-3669 · dpejen@gmail.com
- Mark Pollard private pilot; airplanes · Walnut Creek, CA (26 nm) · (925) 595-1980 · mark.m.pollard@gmail.com
All 46 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.
- DADE: Designated Aircraft Dispatcher Examiner: tests candidates for the dispatcher certificate.
- 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 · 54 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
The FAA's remarks as written in the airport file, spelled out
- When the control tower closed; activate medium-intensity runway lights runway 12/30 and runway end identifier lights runway 12/30 - 119.0
- Applies to BOTH-FIXED wing and helicopter.
- Dir of pub works - tory a. Newman
- 7' lighted dike 100' east of centerline at threshold, extending to 60' east of centerline at end of primary surface.
- Helicopter right traffic runway 12/LEFT traffic runway 30.
- FIXED-WING right traffic runway 30/LEFT traffic runway 12.
- Unusable beyond 8 degrees left of centerline.
- Levee
- No tgl or stop and go landings when the control tower closed.
- Calm wind runway 12.
- Migratory bird act on and in the vicinity of of airport.
- 100 feet steel transmission towers and powerlines located 750 feet west and parallel to runway 12/30.
Connections how this airport links to the rest of the register
- Aircraft registered in San Carlos 44 aircraft · 40 piston singles, 2 gliders, 2 business jets
- Pelican Flight Training LLC 3 aircraft in town
- San Carlos Flight Center INC 2 aircraft in town
- 83L Ventures LLC 2 aircraft in town
- Pelican Flight Training LLC 3 aircraft · flight school
- San Carlos Flight Center INC 2 aircraft · flight school
- NTSB accidents and incidents at or near this airport 54 since 1982 · 2 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/SQL.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.