Bluffton Airport

Bluffton Airport covers an area of 100 acres (40 ha) at an elevation of 851 feet (259 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 5/23 with an asphalt surface measuring 4,126 by 75 feet (1,258 x 23 m).[1][3]

For the 12-month period ending August 11, 2022, the airport had 42,705 aircraft operations, an average of 117 per day. It includes 93% general aviation, 7% air taxi, and <1% military. For the same time period, 19 aircraft were based at the airport: 18 single-engine airplanes and 1 helicopter.[3][4] These numbers are down from 71,980 movements and 24 based aircraft in 2008.[1]

The airport has a fixed-base operator that sells fuel, including both avgas and jet fuel. Limited services are available.[5]

The airport received $90,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration in 2022 to rebuild three taxiways.[6]

• On July 30, 2000, a Piper PA-24 impacted terrain while on approach to the Bluffton Airport. An airport employee who witnessed the accident said the pilot had made calls inquiring which runway was in use while on approach to the airport. Soon after a van pulled up to inform the employee that the aircraft had crashed; there had been no distress call. Another witness reported that they had seen the aircraft approaching the airport when it had abruptly banked right and into a vertical dive from an altitude of 300-500 feet, which they determined was too low for the aircraft's position on the approach. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's improper fuel calculations, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, as well as his abrupt maneuver during a forced landing, which resulted in an inadvertent stall.[7]
• On August 3, 2002, a Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six was substantially damaged during a forced landing near the Bluffton Airport. After flying into another airport the day before and getting fuel, the pilot noticed that the fuel gauge for the right outboard tank indicated empty and the gauge for the right main tank indicated approximately 2/3. The pilot proceeded with a normal runup and found no anomalies; at that point, the fuel gauges indicated full. After a number of flights during the day, while on his last approach into Bluffton, the engine began running rough and subsequently died. The pilot selected a different fuel tank and made several unsuccessful attempts to troubleshoot the problem and restart the engine. He activated the lights for the airport, and turned directly towards the runway, but he subsequently decided he did not have enough altitude to make it to the airport and landed in a soybean field. All but one fuel tank were found to be at least 3/4 full, and the pilot reported he had used different fuel tanks on each of his three flights that day. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's fuel mismanagement with his failure to position the fuel selector to the proper tank which resulted in engine fuel starvation.[8]
• On December 27, 2003, a Cessna 172R Skyhawk was substantially damaged while landing at the Bluffton Airport. The pilot reported that, during landing, the airplane was hit by an "unexpected wind gust." The airplane was lifted upward and then impacted the runway "very hard." The airplane then bounced and came to rest on the nose wheel first, causing the landing gear strut to bend and the propeller to impact the runway. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's improper flare and inadequate recovery from a bounced landing.[9]
• On August 6, 2009, a Cessna 172S Skyhawk was damaged on landing at the Bluffton Airport. The airplane experienced a hard landing after encountering a gust of wind just prior to the landing flare during a student solo flight. The student pilot reported that, during the touchdown, the left main landing gear and nose landing gear impacted the runway. Unknown that the airplane was damaged, the student pilot executed a touch-and-go and flew the airplane back to his home airport. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the student pilot's failure to compensate for wind conditions and maintain aircraft control during the landing.[10]
• On June 13, 2022, a Cessna 172 Skyhawk crashed just south of the Bluffton Airport. The pilot lost control of the aircraft, crashed into a field nose first, and flipped over.[11][12][13]

• Aerial image as of 17 April 1988 from USGS The National Map
• FAA Terminal Procedures for 5G7, effective October 5, 2023
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for 5G7
  • AirNav airport information for 5G7
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for 5G7