San Carlos Airport is a public airfield located northeast of

San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish language, Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spain, Spanis ...

, in

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

and serves the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. The airport lies off

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

. The airport is home to Civil Air Patrol West Bay Composite Squadron 192. Next to the airport lies the Hiller Aviation Museum.

History

The San Carlos Flying Field was established during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

by J. Paulding Edwards on a field north of Cordilleras Creek and east of today's Old County Road. A hangar was situated along the western end of Terminal Way. San Carlos' first pilot's license was issued on July 10, 1917 to Lieutenant Prince.Pilot's License Granted Flier at San Carlos, Redwood City Democrat, July 10, 1917
/ref> In 1923, the airfield was taken over by the Cooley family. Charles P. Cooley was the primary flight instructor and his father, Frank S. Cooley, operated the field. On July 12, 1940, a fire destroyed the main

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

and twelve aircraft. Operations were maintained on an airstrip bounded by today's Brittan Avenue, Washington Street, Old County Road, and Industrial Road. Sometime around 1935 the Cooley family established a different airfield near the foot of today's Twin Dolphin Drive in San Carlos. That facility had a runway and a building that housed various industrial activities. The Cooley family eventually determined that the airport needed to be moved because its proximity to the Phelps and Steinberger Sloughs limited the length of the runway. The Cooleys opened another airfield at the present location of the San Carlos airport in 1948. In 1952, ownership was transferred to Francis Michaud, who renamed it San Carlos-Belmont Airport. Repair and administrative buildings were added, and plans were developed to lengthen the runway to . In 1957, the field was renamed San Mateo County Airport, Inc. Ownership was split between Michaud, the Piombo Construction Company, and six other parties. San Mateo County purchased the property in 1964. Today the airport is completely funded with user and business fees and receives no money from the County's General Fund.San Carlos Airport Association
/ref>San Mateo County Public Works
/ref> In 1999, a proposal was given to extend the runway by into the marshy area near Bair Island south of the airport. The proposal encountered opposition among the adjacent residents in Redwood Shores and Foster City, who complained about the potential for increased noise. Opponents felt a longer runway would lead to bigger and noisier planes, in particular, more corporate aircraft of the light jet category. As a result, the runway was not extended. In 2017, residents complained of excessive noise at the airport caused by flights operated by Surf Air (now operated by Southern Airways Express). They formed a group named Calm The Skies. San Mateo County acknowledged the noise issue caused by Surf Air. Part of the County solution was to introduce an arrival procedure called "Bayside Visual Approach" that underwent testing in 2016 which shifts flights and noise from San Mateo County to the city of Sunnyvale in neighboring Santa Clara County. A curfew has also been discussed in addition to other measures to mitigate the noise. On January 30, 2025, the County of San Mateo Airports announced that the San Carlos Airport in would enter an ATC Zero state on February 1, 2025, meaning the airport’s Federal Contract Tower would be unstaffed. The

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

had awarded a new contract for air traffic services at San Carlos Airport to Robinson Aviation, but the contract did not include locality pay adjustments for the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, all current air traffic controllers declined employment offers, leading to a loss of air traffic control services. The ATC Zero state was narrowly averted after negotiations led to an acceptable employment contract.

Facilities

San Carlos Airport covers at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of 5 feet (2 m). Its one

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

, 12/30, is with an asphalt surface. Aircraft with gross weight in excess of are prohibited. San Carlos Airport is home to over 30 aviation-related businesses. Facilities and FBOs at KSQL include Bay Aerial Helicopter Service, FlyBayArea, JATO Aviation, Rabbit Aviation Services, Surf Air, Zanette Aviation Insurance, West Valley Flying Club, Diamond Aviation Charter, and the San Carlos Flight Center. The

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. ...

(EAA) has a chapter at San Carlos Airport. EAA Chapter 20 had about 50 members as of 2010. An on-field flight school typically hosts monthly meetings on the second Saturday of each month. In the year ending May 31, 2020, the airport had 75,243 aircraft operations, average 206 per day: 84%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

, 16%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

and <1% military. 323 aircraft were then based at this airport: 287 single-engine, 23 multi-engine, four jets and nine

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

Airlines and destinations

Origin of SQL airport code

Some have speculated that the airport code of SQL is a humorous reference to the nearby headquarters of

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

, a maker of database software. In databases, SQL, or Structured Query Language, is used for handling structured data. However, the airport had the code SQL years before Oracle's predecessor, Software Development Laboratories, was incorporated in June 1977, as it is listed in the Airman's Information Manual published by the Federal Aviation Administration in 1972.

Accidents and incidents

* On September 2, 2010, a Beechcraft Queen Air crashed into a nearby lagoon at

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

headquarters shortly after takeoff from runway 30, killing all three occupants. * On October 20, 2017, a Cirrus SR-22 overran the end of runway 30, crashing through a fence and onto adjacent Skyway Road upon takeoff. The two occupants suffered only minor injuries.

References

External links

San Carlos Airport
page at San Mateo County Department of Public Works website
San Carlos Airport Association
* * {{Airports in the San Francisco Bay Area Airports in San Mateo County, California