To be eligible for commission approval, all airports, other than those airports for restricted use only, must meet the following requirements:
- (1) Each end of the runway must have a minimum unobstructed approach zone providing a glide angle of at least 20:1. This approach zone must be trapezoidal in shape, beginning at a point two hundred feet beyond the end of the runway and extending out five thousand feet along the extended centerline. This zone is two hundred fifty feet wide at the inner edge and one thousand two hundred fifty feet wide at the outer edge. The approach zone must have a minimum clearance of fifteen feet over all highways, seventeen feet over interstate highways, and twenty-three feet over railroads;
- (2) No objects may penetrate the primary or transitional surfaces. The primary surface is a horizontal plane, two hundred fifty feet wide, one hundred twenty-five feet on either side of the landing area centerline and at the same elevation as the centerline. The transitional surface is an inclined plane with a slope of 7:1, being seven feet horizontal for each one foot vertical, beginning at the outer edge of the primary surface and extending upward and outward;
- (3) Runway lengths listed in subdivision (5) of this section must be increased for site elevation at the rate of seven percent for each one thousand feet of elevation above mean sea level; five-tenths of one percent for each degree by which the mean maximum temperature of the hottest month exceeds the standard temperature of sixty degrees Fahrenheit; and twenty percent for each one percent of effective gradient;
- (4) The entire landing area must be suitable for safe operation of aircraft under normal weather conditions; and
- (5) Airports must have at least one serviceable runway two thousand one hundred feet in length and fifty feet of usable width. For landing areas, the length must be increased by four hundred feet after the necessary corrections have been added and the usable width increased to one hundred feet.
Source: SL 1975, ch 16, § 1; 13 SDR 129, 13 SDR 134, effective July 1, 1987 ; 52 SDR 10, effective August 4, 2025 .
General Authority: SDCL 50-5-1.2 .
Law Implemented: SDCL 50-5-1 , 50-5-3 .
Prior versions effective: 1987-07-01.