From the Flight Deck – Charleston International Airport, SC (CHS)

Charleston Air Force Base/International is a medium sized multi-use airport located between Summerville and Charleston, South Carolina. Its location near the coast makes it an attractive destination for the pilot looking for a nice place to fly and visit. There are several smaller airports located around the outer ring of CHS’s Class Charlie airspace that are equally busy and first time visitors should exercise extra vigilance while inbound to the airport. Contacting Charleston Approach well outside the Class Charlie will add an extra set of eyes for the pilot. Visit https://www.faa.gov/chs for supplemental "pilot handbook" information on this airport including airport-specific cautions, information local controllers want pilots to know, airport communications, airspace details and other preflight planning resources. 1:12 - The traffic mix at CHS is the spectrum of the aviation community. Beware of jet blasts, as well as high speed, low level flight formations and miscellaneous air to ground drops and operations due to military presence. 2:16 - The airport configuration consists of two intersecting runways labeled runway 3-21 and runway 15-33. The taxiway system is complex and can be somewhat confusing. 2:40 - First time pilots to CHS should beware of a couple of issues. Pilots have confused the similar sounding runway numbers 3 & 33 and have attempted to land on the wrong runway. In addition, runway 3 and taxiway Charlie have been confused and pilots have attempted to land on the taxiway. 3:23 - Hot Spot #1 is located at the intersection of taxiway Foxtrot, taxiway Alpha, and runway 15-33. It is essentially just a large area of concrete and can be confusing to the first time visitor. 4:01 - Hot Spot #2 is located at the approach end of runway 21. It concerns aircraft taxing southeast on taxiway Echo and instructed to “cross runway 21, taxi via Alpha or Alpha 1.” Pilots have read back this clearance and for some reason taxied on the wrong taxiway. 4:30 - When exiting the runway, taxi without delay to cross the hold short line for the runway behind you. Your aircraft is not clear until it is completely across this line. Delay can cause aircraft behind you to be sent around. The FAA's From the Flight Deck video series uses aircraft-mounted cameras to capture runway and taxiway footage and combines them with diagrams and visual graphics to clearly identify hot spots and other safety-sensitive items. Learn more at https://www.faa.gov/FromTheFlightDeck. This video is informational only and does not replace the pilot’s responsibility to conduct required pre-flight planning in accordance with FAR 91.103.