Wrong Surface Landing

See Arrival Alert Notices

• Pilots that are cleared to land on either RWY 20L or RWY 20R have landed or attempted to land on the adjacent parallel runway.
• The RWYs are offset however, the threshold for RWY 20L is considerably further south than the threshold for RWY 20R. 
• Expectation bias may cause a pilot to attempt to land on RWY 20R because it comes into sight first.
• If available, back up all visual approaches with an instrument approach or GPS Waypoint to help ensure that you are lined up for the correct surface.
• If you are unsure of your position or your clearance, ask the TWR.
• Whenever a TWY runs parallel to a RWY, the risk of landing on a TWY increases.
• The four RWYs at DPA all have mostly full-length parallel TWYs.
• View the From the Flight Deck-Wrong Surface Landings video for additional mitigation strategies.
• RWY markings are white. Markings on surfaces not used for takeoff/landing like TWY markings, chevrons, RWY shoulder and RWY turn-on markings etc., are yellow.

Additional Cautions

• Deer, coyote, birds, and migratory waterfowl on and in in vicinity of the airport.
• Aircraft on short final to RWY 15 may not be visible from the TWR due to trees.

General

• DPA is a busy training VFR tower and has flight schools onsite. Please be patient with the controllers and be vigilant of pilots in training.

Traffic Patterns

• DPA utilizes intersecting and parallel runways daily for traffic operations. Expect multiple traffic calls for aircraft landing on intersecting and parallel runways.
• Expect RWY 2R/20L as the main RWY for traffic patterns. 

Ground

• Ground Control is often combined with another position. Please be patient when awaiting instructions from the ground controller. 

Take-off/Departure

• Pilots departing the airport are expected to begin their turns at the runway end. If a pilot wants an early turnout, please advise the tower. 
• Please use the phrase “IFR” when requesting an IFR takeoff clearance. 

Arrival/Landing

• Due to the nature of the DuPage Class D and the fact most aircraft depart and enter from the west, arriving aircraft may be routed for a sequence as far as 8 miles out. Listen carefully for the instructions and the assigned runway.
• Please use caution when aligning for arrival. The configuration of DPA’s runways may cause misalignment and wrong surface landings. 

Special Traffic (Military / Commercial / Helicopter, etc.)

• Use caution when climbing out of DPA 3500 ft. airspace boundary. We underly ORD traffic patterns starting at 4000 ft.
• Use caution for IFR overflights transitioning the airspace at 3000 ft that are not on DPA TWR frequency. 

Additional Information

• Please ask for clarification if you are unsure of any control instructions.