Castle Airport
MER · KMER · Atwater, California · Merced County · map
Castle Airport is a public-use airport owned by Merced County, 3 miles northeast of Atwater, California, 190 feet above sea level. Its one runway, 13/31, is 11,802 feet of asphalt and concrete. It has a control tower and fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A, Jet A-1).
Weather right now KMER · observed 12:55 pm PDT (19:55 UTC), 40 minutes ago
VFR good flying weather
- Wind from the northwest (320°) at 5 knots
- Visibility 10 miles or more
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 KMER 061955Z 32005KT 10SM CLR
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.
The airport
- Codes
- FAA MER · ICAO KMER
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Owner
- Merced County
- Elevation
- 190 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- A control tower · 7:00 am to 9:00 pm
- Attended
- Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
- Lights
- runway lights see the remarks below; beacon sunset to sunrise
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A, Jet A-1
- Repairs
- airframe: minor repairs; engine: minor repairs
- Parking
- hangar, tiedown
- On the chart
- San Francisco sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 15E
- In the FAA's files since
- July 1942
Runway
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/31 | 11,802 × 150 ft | Asphalt and concrete, good | High-intensity lights |
- Runway 13: PAPI, four lights on the left, approach lights with sequenced flashers (ALSF-1)
- Runway 31: localizer and glideslope, PAPI, four lights on the left, approach lights with sequenced flashers (ALSF-1), right-hand traffic pattern
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) · Tower | 118.175 | Castle |
| UNICOM | 122.95 | |
| ATIS (recorded airport information) | 124.475 | Castle |
| Ground | 133.575 | Castle |
| Approach and departure | 120.95 | Castle |
Automated weather (AWOS-3), by phone 209-725-0104.
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 Atwater from the FAA register
63 aircraft are registered to owners in Atwater, California: 39 piston singles, 12 piston twins, 5 drones, 4 turboprops, 2 helicopters. 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, never named. All aircraft registered in California.
Accidents and incidents at or near this airport NTSB records · 12 since 1982, 1 fatal
Cases the NTSB recorded with this as the nearest airport, newest first. Each opens the full report in plain English.
Nearby within 30 nautical miles
The FAA's remarks as written in the airport file
- No objections
- When the control tower closed activate ALSF1 runways 13 and 31; high-intensity runway lights runway 13/31 - the common traffic frequency; 3 clicks on, 5 clicks incr intst, 7 clicks off. PAPI runways 13 and 31 operates continuously.
- Mailing address
- Community and economic development
- 1,000 feet paved blast pad both ends of runway.
- ALSF1 runway 13/31 sequenced flashing lights out of service indefinitely.
- Runway 13/31 180 degree turns prohibitied.
- Runway 31 will be the designated calm wind runway (wind 5 knots or less).
- Opposite end of runway not visible on takeoff. When the control tower closed opposite direction takeoffs and landings are not authorized.
- Civilian and military training may occasionally cause pattern congestion.
- When the control tower closed maximum of 5 aircraft pmtd in VFR traffic pattern at any one time and 2000 feet cig and 3 mis visibility recommended.
- Taxiway B closed to aircraft gtr than 30000 pounds.
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 5, 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.