Deer Valley Airport is a medium size, high-volume General Aviation (GA) Airport that serves as an alternate airport for transient traffic landing in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. Unfortunately, several airport geometry issues create confusion for pilots, as documented over the past several years. As a result, pilot deviations happen more frequently at Deer Valley Airport than at any other airport in the Western Pacific Region of the United States.

Runway configuration: Deer Valley Airport has two parallel runways separated by 700 feet between runway
centerlines. In addition to their proximity, the north runway (Runway 7L/25R) has significantly offset thresholds,
compared to the south runway, that are difficult to locate when pilots turn final in the north traffic pattern. The south runway (Runway 7R/25L) is typically the first runway pilots observe and is much more dominant than the north runway. Different colored rocks surround the runways to assist pilots in identifying the correct runway. Green rocks surround the north runway, while red rocks surround the south runway. Wrong Surface Landings and alignments are a common issue at Deer Valley Airport; pilots should be hyper-vigilant of their runway assignment and alignment when arriving. Taxiways flank each runway with several connectors; when clearing a runway, pilots may need to proceed onto the parallel taxiway to clear the runway completely.

Taxiway configuration: The most common type of pilot deviation at the Deer Valley Airport are runway incursions, when aircraft cross the runway hold bars and foul the Runway Safety Area (RSA). In December 2020, the airport became compliant with new federal regulations and relocated the Taxiway C hold bars on the south side of Runway 7R/25L 100 feet further away from the runway centerlines. At the same time, the Deer Valley Airport completed the new Taxiway D and connectors. The addition of a new taxiway drastically changed how aircraft move around the airfield on the ground and how aircraft approach runway hold bars. The most common area on the airfield where pilot deviations occur is Runway 7R at the C3 connector; this is the preferred departure point for most piston engine GA aircraft because it segregates them from the local flight training and IFR traffic that utilize the C1 and C2 connectors respectively. The hold bars at each Taxiway C connector are just north of the Taxiway C edge lines. If pilots turn onto the connectors by more than a few feet, they will likely violate the RSA. The Air Traffic Control Tower expects pilots to "block" Taxiway C while holding short of the runways. The same issue occurs with aircraft exiting the runway. The location of the hold bars means pilots will proceed on to Taxiway C when clearing Runway 7R/25L to the south, and ATC expects and protects that operation. If an aircraft fails to clear the runway hold bars while exiting the runway, ATC will take action with subsequent operations on the runway until the RSA is clear.

This LTA is for informational purposes, and the intent is to draw awareness to areas that compromise the safety of
the National Airspace System while assisting pilots in avoiding deviations. If any pilot has questions or concerns
about operations at Deer Valley Airport, the administrative phone number at the Air Traffic Control Tower is
(623)581-1492; we'd be happy to discuss best practices with you Monday through Friday during regular business
hours. It's better to know before you go.