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53U · Ferndale Airfield

FAA-LID · US · 5 NTSB events

ID 53U Elev 3,060 ft Lat 48° 3.66' N Lon 114° 0.08' W Zulu …

Live conditions

METAR

fetching…

Wind / Visibility

—

Density altitude (now)

—

Decode in METAR tool TAF on AWC ↗ NOTAMs ↗

Aerial view

No FAA diagram published

Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, USDA FSA

Runways

2 runway ends on file. Longest: 3,500 ft. Max gradient: 0.74%

Designator Heading Length Width Surface Lighting Gradient
15 — 3,500 ft 95 ft TURF-G No 0.74%
33 — 3,500 ft 95 ft TURF-G No 0.74%

Lengths + headings: in-app airport database. Surface, width, lighting: OurAirports. Gradient: derived from FAA NASR runway-end elevations (NASR's RWY_GRAD field is empty in 99.99% of rows).

Chart Supplement remarks, plain English · 0 matched · 9 not yet translated

Translations anchored to the FAA text; the raw FAA text is authoritative.

Not yet translated · raw FAA text (9 sentences)
  • ·SNOW REMOVAL MAY BE DELAYED CALL FOR CONDITIONS 406-257-5994.
  • ·RWY 15 +100 FT TREES 1570 FT FM END OF RWY ON CNTRLN; RWY 33 +80 FT TREES 1500 FT FM END OF RWY; RWY 15 +15 FT ROAD 250 FT FM END OF RWY ON CNTRLN.
  • ·TREES IN TRANSITION SFC BOTH SIDES OF RY FULL LENGTH.
  • ·FREE BICYCLES FOR ARPT USE LCTD IN STORAGE SHED.
  • ·TO ACCESS USE EMERG FREQ ON LOCK.
  • ·RWY 33 +50 FT TREE ON CNTRLN 500 FT FM END OF RWY AT 10:1.
  • ·FOR CD CTC SALT LAKE ARTCC AT 801-320-2568. 15/33 NSTD MARKINGS - WHITE CONES MARK FULL RY LENGTH.
  • ·RED TRAFFIC CONES MARK EACH RY THRESHOLD WITH 100 FOOT DISPLACED THRESHOLD CALL FOR RPRS: 406-253-5688 PROVIDED COMPATIBLE INGRESS/EGRESS ARE ESTABLISHED IN ORDER TO AVOID CONGESTED AREAS AND ASSUME SAFETY TO PERSONS AND PROPERTY ON THE SURFACE.
  • ·DEP PROC STRAIGHT OUT THRU TPA OF 4072 FT MSL (1000 FT AGL).

Field profile

Wikipedia

Full article ↗

Ferndale Airfield is a public use airport in Flathead County, Montana, United States. It is owned by the Flathead Municipal Airport Authority and located three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district of Bigfork, Montana.

Use

Public-use

Ownership

Public

Scheduled service

No

NTSB events

5 NTSB-recorded events on file at this airport .

Total events

5

since 1982

Fatal

2

40.0% of total

Last 5 years

1

≈ 0.2/yr

Last 10 years

2

≈ 0.2/yr

Ranking across all airports · Open in accident map ↗

Last 10 years · n=1

  • Controlled flight into terrain 1

All time · n=5

  • Fuel exhaustion / starvation 2
  • Stall / spin 1
  • Loss of control 1
  • Controlled flight into terrain 1

Categories rule-matched from NTSB findings and probable-cause text. "Other" = not enough agency text to classify.

Date Aircraft · Classification · Wx Sev
2025-09-19 Murphy SR3500 · CFIT · VMC · day →
2016-06-05 Bellanca 7GCBC · Loss of control · VMC · day →
2011-07-08 Schweizer SGS 2-32 · Stall / spin · day →
2007-10-14 Welch RV-9 · Fuel exhaustion · VMC · day →
2004-05-17 Piper J4/E · Fuel exhaustion · VMC · day →

Designees in MT

CFI Flight Instructors 508 A&P Mechanics 1,200 AME Medical Examiners (AME) 20 DME Mechanic Examiners (DME) 3 DPRE Parachute Rigger Examiners (DPRE) 5 DAR-F Manufacturing Airworthiness (DAR-F) 1 DAR-T Maintenance Airworthiness (DAR-T) 4 DER-Y Engineering — Company (DER-Y) 1 DER-T Engineering — Consultant (DER-T) 2 SAE Specialty Aircraft Examiners (SAE) 19 Schools Flight Schools 22 FBO Fixed Base Operators 44 Clubs Flying Clubs 11 Repair Repair / Maintenance Shops 6 EAA EAA Chapters 8

DPEs nearby

Distance is city-centroid to airport, a first cut, not the exam location.

Designee City ST Distance
Perry Lee Brown Kalispell MT 16 nm
James Heckman Whitefish MT 27 nm
Michelle Marie Petrina Whitefish MT 27 nm
Ryan Baer Missoula MT 71 nm
Timothy Franklin Mead Missoula MT 71 nm
Kevin Walter Rothfus Hayden ID 114 nm
Douglas Glen Belcher Newman Lake WA 125 nm
Abraham Lloyd Fandrich Clancy MT 126 nm
Jared Ryan Testa Spokane Valley WA 132 nm
David Lucio Valenti Spokane WA 140 nm

Showing 10 closest of ~1,400 DPEs nationwide. Source: FAA Designee Locator.

CFIs nearby

City-centroid distance; ratings as on the FAA certificate.

Instructor City ST Distance
Ted Jay Carter Bigfork MT 3 nm
Michael George Spencer Bigfork MT 3 nm
Rhett William Rieke Bigfork MT 3 nm
Soren Cameron Franklin Bigfork MT 3 nm
Joe Michael Wolstein Bigfork MT 3 nm
Todd Alan Ware Bigfork MT 3 nm
Blake Alan Denning Bigfork MT 3 nm
Garth Scott Thompson Somers MT 9 nm
Darren Eugene Hall Lakeside MT 10 nm
Rodney Duane Bitney Kalispell MT 16 nm

Showing 10 closest of ~70,900 active CFIs nationwide. Source: FAA Airmen Certification Database.

A&P mechanics nearby

City-centroid distance. A = airframe, P = powerplant, IA = inspection authorization.

Mechanic City ST Distance
Robert Dale Colby Bigfork MT 3 nm
Michael Sean Barrett Bigfork MT 3 nm
Rhett William Rieke Bigfork MT 3 nm
Richard Cranston Bradley Ii Bigfork MT 3 nm
Charles Gilbert Lester Bigfork MT 3 nm
Ronald Jay Mccormack Bigfork MT 3 nm
Eugene Francis Novacek Bigfork MT 3 nm
Scott Robert Smith Bigfork MT 3 nm
William Ross Wipprecht Bigfork MT 3 nm
Benjamin Allen Burdick Bigfork MT 3 nm

Showing 10 closest of ~248,300 certificated mechanics nationwide. Source: FAA Airmen Certification Database.

Repair stations nearby

By airport location.

Shop Distance
Pristine Jets
Missoula, MT
 68 nm
Montana Aviation Maintenance, LLC
Cut Bank, MT
 73 nm
Dustin's Aircraft Maintenance and Upholstery
Great Falls, MT
 114 nm
Advanced Avionics Solutions, LLC
Hayden, ID
 115 nm
Huey's Aviation Painting
Colville, WA
 158 nm
JL Aerospace
Three Forks, MT
 165 nm
Pristine Jets
Belgrade, MT
 180 nm
Million Air Bozeman
Belgrade, MT
 180 nm
McCormick Aircraft Maintenance, LLC
Yakima, WA
 281 nm
Skyline Aircraft Maintenance
Nampa, ID
 289 nm

Showing 10 closest of ~400 geocoded shops in the repair-station directory. Source: AOPA business listings.