KFFA Runway 03/21 — First Flight Airport
3,000 × 60 ft asphalt · true headings 015° / 195° · field elevation 12 ft
Runway 03/21 at First Flight Airport (KFFA) in Kill Devil Hills, NC is 3,000 ft long and 60 ft wide, asphalt, with true headings 015° and 195°. Over 2005–2025 the wind gave runway 03 the headwind 48.1% of the time and runway 21 51.9%, with a crosswind above 15 kt in 0.3% of wind hours. KFFA has no digital ATIS, so the active runway is not known; the wind-favored end and the ATIS Alerts prediction are estimates.
Runway 03/21 — current operational status
What the D-ATIS, the tower and current NOTAMs state now. The published FAA baseline (NASR) is a separate line in the overview below and does not reflect temporary closures.
- No received NOTAM closes or restricts this runway, but the NOTAM stream has no complete initial load and the airport has no tower or D-ATIS feed. No current closure information.
Sources: Published FAA baseline (OurAirports/NASR record) · FAA NOTAMs. Runway NOTAMs stream live from the FAA NOTAM Management Service (SWIM); the official text is shown verbatim below the card. Always confirm with a current briefing.
No received NOTAM currently names runway 03/21 at KFFA. NOTAMs are received live from the FAA NOTAM Management Service through SWIM and recorded since Sep 19, 2026; a NOTAM issued before that and not re-issued since may be missing. Get a full briefing before flight.
Current runway assignment is not available from D-ATIS at KFFA. The wind components below show which end the wind favors; the section after it is an ATIS Alerts prediction. Neither is an ATC assignment.
Current wind on Runway 03/21
Wind from the north-northeast (030°) at 7 kt
- Headwind
- 7 kt
- Crosswind
- 2 ktfrom right
- Tailwind
- 7 kt
- Crosswind
- 2 ktfrom left
- arrivals
- departures
- LAHSO hold-short
- closed
Layout from FAA NASR runway-end coordinates; the selected runway is highlighted and no active source exists here. Not for navigation.
Components use TRUE runway headings and TRUE METAR wind. “Favored by wind” is arithmetic, not an ATC assignment.
Runway 03/21 outlook
Where runway 03/21 stands now and which runway at KFFA is likely over the next 12 hours — an estimate, not an ATC assignment.
Time · runway 03/21 · airport-wide outlook · confidence · forecast wind · why
- Now1408Z · 10:08 AM EDT·03/21: 03 likely·airport-wide likely 03 then 21·North flow·7 kt headwind, 2 kt crosswind·High 95%·wind 030° at 7 kt·Why Current METAR wind 030° at 7 kt favors northeast-facing runway ends: 7 kt headwind and 2 kt crosswind on 03 versus -7 kt headwind on 21.|No known runway closure prevents this configuration.
- +1 h1508Z · 11:08 AM EDT·03/21: no runway favored·no runway favored airport-wide·no confidence·wind not forecast·Why No TAF is published for this airport, so there is no forecast wind to score.
- +2 h1608Z · 12:08 PM EDT·03/21: no runway favored·no runway favored airport-wide·no confidence·wind not forecast·Why No TAF is published for this airport, so there is no forecast wind to score.
- +3 h1708Z · 1:08 PM EDT·03/21: no runway favored·no runway favored airport-wide·no confidence·wind not forecast·Why No TAF is published for this airport, so there is no forecast wind to score.
- +6 h2008Z · 4:08 PM EDT·03/21: no runway favored·no runway favored airport-wide·no confidence·wind not forecast·Why No TAF is published for this airport, so there is no forecast wind to score.
- +12 h0208Z · 10:08 PM EDT·03/21: no runway favored·no runway favored airport-wide·no confidence·wind not forecast·Why No TAF is published for this airport, so there is no forecast wind to score.
ATIS Alerts Predicted Runway is an estimate from the current wind (no TAF is published for this airport), runway geometry (most headwind, crosswind penalised, tailwind over 5 kt avoided, longest runway breaks ties), the current stated configuration and any stated closures. Each row lists its reasons; “no runway favored” is a genuine answer under variable or light wind, never replaced by a guess. It is not an ATC assignment and does not know about noise abatement or traffic flow unless the recorded history shows them.
Runway 03/21 equipment and lighting
What the FAA record lists for each end, annotated with current NOTAM and D-ATIS outages.
- Approach lighting
- Not available
- Visual glide slope
- Not available
- Runway edge lighting
- Not available
- Centerline lighting
- Not available
- Touchdown zone lighting
- Not available
- REIL
- Not available
- ILS
- Not available
- Localizer
- Not available
- Glideslope
- Not available
- DME
- Not available
- Marker beacons
- Not available
- RVR
- Not available
- Runway markings
- Non-precision instrument
- Arresting system
- Not available
- Approach lighting
- Not available
- Visual glide slope
- Not available
- Runway edge lighting
- Not available
- Centerline lighting
- Not available
- Touchdown zone lighting
- Not available
- REIL
- Not available
- ILS
- Not available
- Localizer
- Not available
- Glideslope
- Not available
- DME
- Not available
- Marker beacons
- Not available
- RVR
- Not available
- Runway markings
- Non-precision instrument
- Arresting system
- Not available
Source: FAA NASR 28-day subscription, cycle effective 2026-10-01 (equipment on record) · FAA NOTAMs via SWIM (live)and the current D-ATIS (outages). “Not available” means the FAA record lists no such equipment for the end; nothing here is inferred. An outage annotation is only ever a reading of the official text shown with it. Declared distances are not shown in this phase.
Land and hold short operations
LAHSO hold-short points and available landing distances on the FAA record, and whether the current D-ATIS reports LAHSO in effect.
No LAHSO hold-short point on the FAA record for this end.
No LAHSO hold-short point on the FAA record for this end.
This airport has no D-ATIS, so the current LAHSO state is not known here. Source: FAA NASR cycle 2026-10-01; D-ATIS text read by ATIS Alerts.
Frequencies for runway 03/21
Tower, ground, clearance, ATIS and approach frequencies from the FAA record, labelled by what they apply to.
| Service | Frequency | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| CTAF | 122.9 | Airport-wide |
Show all frequencies (2 more: approach and departure sectors, secondary and other)
| Service | Frequency | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Approach / departure | 124.725 | Airport-wide |
| Approach / departure | 350.35 | Airport-wide |
The FAA record does not sectorize KFFA's frequencies by runway; every row applies airport-wide. Source: FAA NASR FRQ, cycle 2026-10-01. Verify on the current chart supplement before use.
Runway 03/21 overview
Physical characteristics from the FAA-derived runway record.
- Length
- 3,000 ft
- Width
- 60 ft
- Surface
- Asphalt · Good condition
- Weight bearing (lb)
- S 10k
- Runway lights
- Not lighted
- Airport elevation
- 12 ft
- Published FAA baseline
- Open
- Published NASR record; does not reflect temporary closures or restrictions. Current operational status is the card at the top of the page.
- True heading
- 015°
- Magnetic
- 026°
- Published FAA baseline
- Open
- Threshold elevation
- 12 ft
- TDZ elevation
- 12 ft
- Displaced threshold
- None on record
- Traffic pattern
- Left
- Controlling obstruction
- trees, 59 ft, 296 ft from threshold, 1:1 slope
- True heading
- 195°
- Magnetic
- 206°
- Published FAA baseline
- Open
- Threshold elevation
- 8 ft
- TDZ elevation
- 12 ft
- Displaced threshold
- None on record
- Traffic pattern
- Right
- Controlling obstruction
- trees, 37 ft, 362 ft from threshold, 4:1 slope
Runway 03/21 numbers are magnetic; the stored geometry and every wind calculation on this page are TRUE north, so they never need a variation correction. Magnetic headings use the FAA's published variation for this airport, 11.0°W (2020), the same value printed on the FAA airport diagram. Surface condition, treatment, weight bearing, thresholds and traffic pattern are from the FAA NASR record (cycle 2026-10-01); lighting, ILS and LAHSO are in their own sections above. Declared distances are not shown in this phase.
Wind-favored runway at KFFA — last 30 days
Which runway end had the most headwind each hour, from ATIS Alerts' collected wind history — an estimate, not ATC use.
Share of hours each runway had the most headwind. From wind reports, not ATC assignments.
- 03
- 76%
- 21
- 24%
Historical wind and crosswind on runway 03/21
20-year hourly climatology from the ASOS archive, computed per runway end.
From 169,224 hourly observations at KFFA (2005–2025), 127,537 with a steady wind direction (24.6% calm, variable or direction-less). One observation per clock hour; TRUE headings against TRUE wind. Note: this station is flagged in the Flying Weather Index (Unexplained observation gap of 91 consecutive days.); treat these numbers as indicative.
Crosswind on runway 03/21 (either end)
| Crosswind (kt) | Share of wind hours |
|---|---|
| 0–5 | 77.5% |
| 5–10 | 19.5% |
| 10–15 | 2.6% |
| 15–20 | 0.3% |
| 20–25 | 0% |
| 25+ | 0% |
Strongest-crosswind month on average: Jan; calmest: Jul. Percentiles are streaming approximations (t-digest), accurate to about 0.1 kt.
Runway 03
Runway 21
“Most wind-favored end” is meteorological analysis: the share of steady-wind hours (2005–2025) in which this end had the most headwind of every open runway end at KFFA. It does not mean ATC selected the runway that often (parallel ends with the same heading share the credit equally). Observed runway use, where available, is the configuration-history section above.
By wind direction
| Wind from | Share of wind hours | 03 favored | 21 favored | Mean crosswind | Crosswind > 15 kt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N 338–023° | 18% | 100% | 0% | 2.3 kt | 0% |
| NE 023–068° | 13% | 100% | 0% | 2 kt | 0% |
| E 068–113° | 9% | 100% | 0% | 4.6 kt | 0.2% |
| SE 113–158° | 6% | 0% | 100% | 5.6 kt | 0.6% |
| S 158–203° | 13% | 0% | 100% | 2 kt | 0% |
| SW 203–248° | 19% | 0% | 100% | 2.2 kt | 0% |
| W 248–293° | 13% | 0% | 100% | 6.3 kt | 1.5% |
| NW 293–338° | 8% | 100% | 0% | 6.3 kt | 0.9% |
By time of day (airport-local)
Seasonal runway conditions
| Month | Mean crosswind (kt) |
|---|---|
| Jan | 4.2 kt |
| Feb | 3.9 kt |
| Mar | 3.7 kt |
| Apr | 3.5 kt |
| May | 3.3 kt |
| Jun | 3.1 kt |
| Jul | 2.9 kt |
| Aug | 2.9 kt |
| Sep | 3.1 kt |
| Oct | 3.5 kt |
| Nov | 3.8 kt |
| Dec | 3.9 kt |
| Month | Prevailing | Mean wind | Gusty | Mean xw | xw > 10 | xw > 15 | xw > 20 | 03 tail > 5 | 21 tail > 5 | IFR | TS | Fog |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | N | 5.4 kt | 26.6% | 4.2 kt | 5.7% | 0.5% | 0% | 15% | 18.7% | 9.7% | 0% | 5.3% |
| Feb | N | 5.6 kt | 29.6% | 3.9 kt | 5.6% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 18.6% | 23.4% | 10.4% | 0% | 4.6% |
| Mar | N | 5.9 kt | 31.6% | 3.7 kt | 4.4% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 19.5% | 25.5% | 9.4% | 0% | 4.8% |
| Apr | SW | 5.6 kt | 30% | 3.5 kt | 3.1% | 0.4% | 0% | 25.3% | 19.6% | 6.7% | 0% | 4% |
| May | SW | 5.2 kt | 21% | 3.3 kt | 1.4% | 0.2% | 0% | 22.1% | 17.3% | 9.1% | 0% | 5.8% |
| Jun | SW | 4.6 kt | 14.6% | 3.1 kt | 0.7% | 0.1% | 0% | 24.4% | 10.8% | 4.5% | 0% | 2.4% |
| Jul | SW | 4.3 kt | 13% | 2.9 kt | 0.5% | 0.1% | 0% | 29.6% | 7.1% | 1.9% | 0% | 1.4% |
| Aug | SW | 3.8 kt | 8.8% | 2.9 kt | 0.6% | 0.1% | 0% | 13.4% | 13.8% | 2.3% | 0% | 2.1% |
| Sep | NE | 4.7 kt | 20.4% | 3.1 kt | 1.6% | 0.2% | 0% | 8.3% | 32.2% | 5.4% | 0% | 2.5% |
| Oct | N | 4.7 kt | 21.1% | 3.5 kt | 2.8% | 0.3% | 0% | 9.5% | 25.5% | 6.7% | 0% | 3.5% |
| Nov | N | 5.1 kt | 23.2% | 3.8 kt | 3.9% | 0.2% | 0% | 10% | 25.9% | 6.8% | 0% | 4.7% |
| Dec | N | 5 kt | 20.8% | 3.9 kt | 5.2% | 0.7% | 0% | 15.1% | 19.5% | 8.2% | 0% | 5.1% |
IFR, thunderstorm (TS) and fog columns are airport-wide shares of hours; the crosswind and tailwind columns are specific to this runway. Prevailing = most common 45° wind sector among wind hours.
Runway 03/21 closure history
Kept per source with its provenance: D-ATIS-observed, NOTAM-observed and the FAA published baseline are never merged.
KFFA has no D-ATIS, so there is no broadcast-observed closure record.
No closure NOTAM naming runway 03/21 has been received since the stream went live.
Runway 03/21: Open on the published record — a baseline that does not reflect temporary closures or restrictions, not the current operational status.
Recent pilot reports involving runway 03/21
Official PIREPs that name this runway explicitly, past 6 hours.
No pilot report in the last 6 hours names runway 03/21 at KFFA explicitly. Reports near the airport that do not name a runway are on the airport page.
Instrument approaches to runway 03/21
From the FAA d-TPP, linked to the official plates.
Runway 03
- RNAV (GPS)RNAV (GPS) RWY 03 ↗
Runway 21
- RNAV (GPS)RNAV (GPS) RWY 21 ↗
No departure procedures · FAA d-TPP cycle 2611. Plates open on aeronav.faa.gov (public domain); ATIS Alerts does not reproduce charts or minimums.
Methodology and sources
Short version below; the full write-up is at Runway Intelligence methodology, and every launched airport is listed on the Runway Intelligence hub.
- Active runwayscome first from the tower's TFDM (Terminal Flight Data Manager) airport configuration, received as structured data through the FAA SWIM Cloud Distribution Service at towers that have it; otherwise from the airport's D-ATIS text (community relay of the FAA broadcast) with an open, tested parser, and the broadcast text is always shown. Every change is recorded, so “recorded use” is what the facility stated, never an inference. ATIS Alerts is not an FAA product and this is not FAA data; SWIM content is for non-operational use.
- Flowis the compass direction of the stated arrival ends (eight sectors, named only when every arrival end points within 30° of the others and clear of a sector edge); a tower's own configuration name is used when it carries a direction word. Stored separately from the runway sets.
- Equipment, LAHSO and frequencies come from the FAA NASR 28-day subscription (cycle 2026-10-01): approach lights, visual glide slope, edge / centerline / touchdown-zone lights, REIL, ILS components with FAA status, RVR, markings, LAHSO hold-short points and available landing distances, and facility frequencies with their published sectorization. Outage annotations are readings of the NOTAM or D-ATIS text shown beside them. Blank FAA fields read “Not available”.
- Wind components use the current METAR (aviationweather.gov) against TRUE runway headings from the OurAirports/FAA runway record.
- Runway visual range, tower demand and traffic-management restrictions come from FAA SWIM: STDDS Airport Data (RVR and light settings, about 130 airports) and TFDM (15-minute runway demand, APREQ/MIT restrictions). Each block is stamped with its own time; none of it is an FAA product or a clearance.
- Predicted runway scores each open end from the TAF wind (headwind, crosswind penalty, tailwind avoidance, longest-runway tie-break), excludes stated closures, and — once a wind sector has 24 h of recorded use — adjusts confidence by what the facility did under similar wind; every row lists its reasons. It does not model noise abatement or flow programs beyond what the record shows.
- History thresholds: usage shares need 12 / 48 / 168 recorded hours for the 24-hour / 7-day / 30-day windows; a wind sector needs 24 h and 5 days; time-of-day needs 7 days and 20 h per daypart; flow shares need 48 h. Below a bar the module says so instead of showing a percentage.
- Climatology: Iowa Environmental Mesonet ASOS archive, one observation per hour, 45° wind sectors, percentiles via t-digest; runway geometry is today's record applied to all years. Methodology v1.
- PIREPs: official reports from aviationweather.gov are attached only when the text names this runway and the report is tied to KFFA by identifier or by position within 15 NM. Approaches: FAA d-TPP metafile, current charting cycle; plates link to aeronav.faa.gov. No minimums are reproduced.
- Data freshness: METAR and D-ATIS refresh every minute on this page; the D-ATIS recorder ran 3 min ago; usage rollups every 3 h; climatology through 2025-12-31.
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Other runways at KFFA
KFFA has a single runway.
Tools for this runway
⚠️ ATIS Alerts provides informational runway analysis based on available weather, the tower's TFDM configuration and NOTAMs received through FAA SWIM, D-ATIS text, FAA data and historical observations. Active runways shown here are what the tower or its D-ATIS stated and may lag or be misread; NOTAM coverage is not complete; predicted runways are an ATIS Alerts estimate, not an ATC assignment; equipment states are readings of the official text shown with them. Not an FAA product. Not for operational use. Always verify with official FAA-approved preflight weather sources before flight.