Chester County G O Carlson
MQS · KMQS · Coatesville, Pennsylvania · Chester County · map
Chester County G O Carlson is a public-use airport owned by Chester CO Arpt Auth, 2 miles west of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, 660 feet above sea level. Its one runway, 11/29, is 5,400 feet of asphalt. It has fuel (100LL avgas, Jet A) and about 76 general-aviation aircraft based on the field by the FAA's count. The FAA counts about 42,500 takeoffs and landings a year. About 48 passengers boarded flights here in the FAA's fiscal year 2024.
Quick answers answers refresh every morning
What is the airport code for Chester County G O Carlson?
Its FAA code is MQS, and its ICAO code is KMQS.
Where is Chester County G O Carlson?
It is 2 miles west of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, 660 feet above sea level.
How long is the runway at Chester County G O Carlson?
Its one runway, 11/29, is 5,400 feet long, asphalt.
Does Chester County G O Carlson have a control tower?
No, it has no control tower.
What fuel can you buy at Chester County G O Carlson?
The FAA's airport file lists 100LL avgas, Jet A.
Are there flight schools at Chester County G O Carlson?
2 flight schools, flying clubs or college flight programmes are based within about 15 miles of it: Tri-County Flyers LLC and Sky Blue Flyers LLC. Compare them
Where are the nearest FAA examiners to Chester County G O Carlson?
18 pilot examiners and 38 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 Chester County G O Carlson…
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 MQS · ICAO KMQS
- Kind
- Airport · open to the public · publicly owned
- Owner
- Chester CO Arpt Auth
- Elevation
- 660 feet above sea level
- Control tower
- No control tower
- Attended
- every day, 6:00 am to 10:00 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
- Washington sectional
- Magnetic variation
- 11W
- In the FAA's files since
- September 1937
Runway
For understanding the field, not for navigation.
| Runway | Length × width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/29 | 5,400 × 100 ft | Asphalt, good | High-intensity lights |
- Runway 11: PAPI, four lights on the right, tree 56 ft high 777 ft from the end
- Runway 29: ILS, PAPI, four lights on the left, trees 14 ft high 238 ft from the end
Radio frequencies
| Common traffic advisory (CTAF) · UNICOM | 122.7 | |
| Clearance delivery | 125.6 | |
| Approach and departure | 124.35 | |
| Mqs and aWOS-3 | 126.25 |
Automated weather (AWOS-3), by phone 610-384-6132.
Fuel and services as reported to the FAA
- Fuel
- 100LL avgas, Jet A
- 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
- avionics, flight instruction, aircraft rental, aircraft sales
Other fields with jet fuel nearby: Brandywine Regional (13 nm east), Heritage Field (21 nm northeast), New Castle Airport (22 nm southeast).
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 Pennsylvania · avgas.
The FAA's remarks as written in the airport file, spelled out
- Migratory birds and deer on and in the vicinity of airport.
- Dusk to dawn. Activate runway end identifier lights runway 11/29; high-intensity runway lights runway 11/29 - the common traffic frequency.
- Unusable beyond 6 degrees left of crs.
- +164 feet water tower 1343 feet from runway 11 threshold 1842 feet R marked with strobe light daylight hours; standard obstruction light night hours.
- Helicopter operations in the vicinity of airport south and southwest of runway 11 thld.
- Helicopter traffic requested to land and takeoff from runway only. Helicopter hover taxiing, takeoffs, and landings prohibited from taxiway alpha.
- Hover taxi along txy alpha prohibited. Wheel taxi on txy or hover from runway to ramp side parking spot by crossing perpendicular to alpha.
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 | 59 |
| multi-engine | 10 |
| jets | 6 |
| helicopters | 1 |
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 42,500, the FAA's fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 to September 2024)
Takeoffs and landings, as a table
| a year | |
|---|---|
| air taxi and commuter | 2,590 |
| general aviation, travelling | 23,760 |
| general aviation, local | 16,100 |
| military | 50 |
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 Coatesville from the FAA register
24 aircraft are registered to owners in Coatesville, Pennsylvania: 10 piston singles, 7 helicopters, 3 drones, 2 piston twins, 1 turboprop. 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 Pennsylvania.
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:
- Tri-County Flyers LLC 2 aircraft · Morgantown, 12 miles away Tri-County Flyers is an aviation club based at Smoketown Airport near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
- Sky Blue Flyers LLC 1 aircraft · New Holland, 15 miles away
Repair stations in Coatesville:
- Keystone Turbine Services, LLC
- Leading Edge Composites INC Leading Edge Composites is a composite parts manufacturing and design firm specializing in aviation, aerospace, and defense applications.
- Sureflight LLC
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
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, 10 for airline transport pilot, 14 for flight instructor, 1 for sport pilot, 4 for type ratings; 13 for airplanes, 9 for multi-engine airplanes, 7 for helicopters, 1 for gliders. Also nearby: 1 sport aviation examiner, 38 aviation medical examiners, 3 mechanic examiners, 4 airworthiness representatives (maintenance), 3 airworthiness representatives (manufacturing), 6 engineering representatives, 1 parachute rigger examiner, 76 training center evaluators, 1 aircrew program designee, 3 training center examiners, 1 administrative pilot examiner.
- Piet Edward Barber private pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, commercial pilot, instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; gliders · New Garden Airport N57 · Toughkenamon, PA (10 nm) · (703) 951-7438 · [email protected]
- Bruce Thompson private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, instrument instructor, instructor renewals, ground instructor; airplanes · Aero Tech · Lititz, PA (23 nm) · (484) 467-9394 · [email protected]
- Darren Lucas private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instrument instructor, type ratings, commercial pilot, private pilot (proficiency), instructor renewals, military competency, ground instructor, foreign pilot certificates; helicopters · Litiz, PA (23 nm) · (717) 368-4720 · [email protected]
- Denver Allen Gillham private pilot, commercial and instrument; airplanes · Alliance Aviation · Lititz, PA (23 nm) · (513) 266-2607 · [email protected]
- Peter H Wolfson private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Lititz, PA (23 nm) · (717) 380-7720 · [email protected]
- Mark Christopher Wesley Robinson private pilot, commercial and instrument, flight instructor, instrument instructor, commercial pilot, instructor renewals, ground instructor; helicopters · Reading Jet Center · Reading, PA (24 nm) · (218) 228-2222 · [email protected]
- Todd James private pilot, commercial and instrument, airline transport pilot, flight instructor, instructor renewals, military competency, foreign pilot certificates; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Lebanon, PA (28 nm) · (717) 380-6371 · [email protected]
- Mark Giovengo private pilot, commercial and instrument; airplanes, multi-engine airplanes · Manheim, PA (29 nm) · (717) 575-8786 · [email protected]
All 155 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Safety record the NTSB's cases at or near this airport
Accidents and incidents at or near this airport NTSB records · 1 since 1982, 1 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 Coatesville 24 aircraft · 10 piston singles, 7 helicopters, 3 drones
- Piasecki Aircraft CORP 10 aircraft in town
- Imp INC 2 aircraft in town
- Tri-County Flyers LLC 2 aircraft · flight school
- Sky Blue Flyers LLC 1 aircraft · flight school
- Keystone Turbine Services, LLC · repair station
- Leading Edge Composites INC · repair station
- Sureflight LLC · repair station
- NTSB accidents and incidents at or near this airport 1 since 1982 · 1 fatal
- Accidents and incidents in Pennsylvania 1,834 since 1982 · 234 in the last ten years
- Nearby landing places within 30 nautical miles 8 airports, heliports and seaplane bases
- Public-use airports in Pennsylvania 118 landing places
- Pennsylvania 6,183 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/airport/MQS.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 26, 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.