EK156 From United Arab Emirates, joined May 2005, 765 posts, RR: 3 Posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 18525 times:
I ran into this article about the World's Most Dangerous Landings and Takeoffs and offcourse Juliana Int'l comes in first place. There are videos linked to each airport. The Videos are fun to watch.
Have a look at Courchevel Airport!!! Is this for real? I mean how the hell do you land on that airport?
lovejt8d From United States of America, joined Sep 2010, 54 posts, RR: 1 Reply 2, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 17105 times:
Quoting EK156 (Thread starter): Have a look at Courchevel Airport!!! Is this for real? I mean how the hell do you land on that airport?
This is a cool topic and lots of fascinating, dangerous airports world-wide. I believe there is one that even beats Courchevel. It's Lukla Airport in North Eastern Nepal. Once you're over the edge.....you're over the edge.
9LFlyGuy From United States of America, joined Jan 2010, 120 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 16779 times:
I hate when people put Juliana and dangerous in the same sentence. sure there is a mountain range but you have plenty of runway and time to avoid them. try KCRW. Built on top of a mountain with drop offs on both sides. a little more dangerous than tncm.....
My opinions do not represent the opinions of my company. They are solely the opinion of the poster.
tjcab From Canada, joined Oct 2004, 277 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 16577 times:
Quoting tjcab (Reply 4): This is a cool topic and lots of fascinating, dangerous airports world-wide. I believe there is one that even beats Courchevel. It's Lukla Airport in North Eastern Nepal. Once you're over the edge.....you're over the edge.
yeah, and not much of a missed approach safety margin
FlyNWA727 From United States of America, joined Jan 2010, 305 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 16385 times:
I would think that Toncontin International Airport (TGU) in Honduras and Madeira Airport (FNC) in Spain, would both be far more dangerous than SXM.
Kcrwflyer From United States of America, joined May 2004, 3637 posts, RR: 7 Reply 8, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 16251 times:
I feel like Madeira is overrated. It's very interesting how they built the runway, but that's about it. The turn to final at DCA is closer/lower to the field and that's a shorter runway.
rfields5421 From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 6189 posts, RR: 25 Reply 9, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 16218 times:
Commercial pilots consistently rate Toncontin International in Tegucigalpa, Honduras - MHTG/TGU as the most challenging, dangerous airport with regular multiple airline service. I mean, how many runways have had fatal overrun accidents by USAF C-130 aircraft?
SXM/TNCM is usually in the top 10, or top 15. More from the danger of the people on the beach and the road at the runway end makes pilots want to come in a little high. SXM does not have an ILS - not unusual in the tropics - but for the number of heavies it receives, it is short.
Lukla and Saba and St Barts are also extremely challenging as commercial airports - but each is limited to a relatively few types of aircraft with very special training requirements.
TGU and SXM take almost all types of aircraft. There is no required training for SXM, most airlines have required training for TGU. Also TGU is not really usable at night for landings. Too many checkpoints for turns are visual and pilots need to be able to see the mountains. SXM is usable anytime the visibility is high enough.
Quoting AirlineCritic (Reply 1): What I want to know is what happens if you miss the approach or the landing becomes bad, can you do a go-around?
No - you crash.
Courchevel and Lukla both have an approach which is at a near right angle to the runway. Only if the pilot is sure he is stable and in the right position does the make the sharp turn to final. Then he must land unless he can turn back close to 90 degrees before the mountains on the sides close that option. Both airports only have a mile or so for lining up with the runway.
ColAvionLover From Panama, joined Dec 2008, 105 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 16172 times:
And what about Quito's (UIO)?
I know the runway is pretty large and have ILS and all that thing but, have you seen the approach?
I've flied several times on my FS and, it's a very hard approach.
Another super airport with a very dangerous approach is Innsbruck in Austria. (INN)
The airport is about 3,000 ft A.S.L. in a valley surrounded by the Swiss Alps with a height of about 8,000 - 12,000 ft!
Also flew to that airport in FS and, unfortunately, crashed in the landing. Well, i didn't crashed but didn't landed on the runway .
I think Juancho E. Irausquin (SAB) might be considered by its super short runway, but its approach an landing, might not be that bad, just to have the skills and be able to fly there.
There are another airports but I wanted to rescue this ones, the ones which I think have dangerous approach & T/O.
The other ones I think also have dangerous landings & t/o are already mentioned above: Courchevel (CVF) & Lukla Airport (LUA).
FlyNWA727 From United States of America, joined Jan 2010, 305 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 6 hours ago) and read 16132 times:
Quoting Kcrwflyer (Reply 8): The turn to final at DCA is closer/lower to the field and that's a shorter runway.
DCA was rated "most challenging to land at" by pilots in a Conde Nast Poll back in the 90s. I wonder where it stands today?
First flight aboard a Northwest B727-251ADV out of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, my hometown airport.
FlyNWA727 From United States of America, joined Jan 2010, 305 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 15713 times:
Quoting ColAvionLover (Reply 12):
As far I know, in a report like the one above of the most challenging airports, a months ago, this one (DCA) is also included.
Thank you!
First flight aboard a Northwest B727-251ADV out of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, my hometown airport.
On the St. Jean on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy airport, the first plane to be seen is a single engine t-tail. Can someone help me identify what a/c it is?
ca2ohHP From United States of America, joined Sep 2005, 932 posts, RR: 2 Reply 15, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 15588 times:
Quoting trystero (Reply 14): On the St. Jean on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy airport, the first plane to be seen is a single engine t-tail. Can someone help me identify what a/c it is?
DanVS From Brazil, joined Jul 2009, 221 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 15038 times:
I think SDU beats most of the airports receiving airlines mentioned above.
With two parallel runways, the longest one with only 1323m (4340 ft), receiving B738s and A319s, no ILS approaches, Sugar Loaf facing runway 20, a tight visual approach to runway 02 (left turns) and water on both ends of the runway... Well, it can be quite scary from a pilot's perspective.
AKLRNO From United States of America, joined Dec 2010, 714 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 14445 times:
Technically it's not an airport, but tour airplanes fly from Mt. Cook, New Zealand onto the Cook glacier. You land heading uphill (using skis) on the glacier with a major mountain in front of you. For departure the plane does a U-turn and accelerates down the glacier and flies off the edge. Actually it's a combination of skiing, flying and dropping of the edge for the first few seconds. Fun!
rampart From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 2871 posts, RR: 7 Reply 19, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 14088 times:
Whenever this topic comes up, I add this one:
Mile Hi airstrip, Idaho: source: Mountainflying.com
500 ft long, 30 ft wide, 100 ft vertical gain (or loss). I've skied lesser ski slopes.
Quote: CAUTION: Most of the strip cannot be seen during takeoff. The prudent pilot will make mental notes of the area during the approach and landing, then visually inspect the area on foot in order to maintain runway alignment during the takeoff. Use extra vigilance.
SHAQ From Panama, joined Jun 2007, 285 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 14056 times:
Quoting ColAvionLover (Reply 10): Another super airport with a very dangerous approach is Innsbruck in Austria. (INN)
The airport is about 3,000 ft A.S.L. in a valley surrounded by the Swiss Alps with a height of about 8,000 - 12,000 ft!
Also flew to that airport in FS and, unfortunately, crashed in the landing. Well, i didn't crashed but didn't landed on the runway .
The same happened to me!
The problem with INN, is that it is in a valley, the approach is very difficult
Quoting DanVS (Reply 17): Well, it can be quite scary from a pilot's perspective.
Yes it is!
Quoting tjcab (Reply 5): yeah, and not much of a missed approach safety margin
Because of this airport , I want to go someday to Nepal!
About SXM , if Corsair can fly theirs 747 , is because it is safe.
VC10er From United States of America, joined Feb 2007, 2476 posts, RR: 9 Reply 21, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 13267 times:
Santos Dumont must be close to the top but on the one approach going around Christ, heading into Sugarloaf with an ultra sharp left bank.. Then a slide into home plate is TOTALLY worth it!
The world is missing love, let's use our flights to spread it!
CoachClass From United States of America, joined Jan 2010, 361 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 12786 times:
Should Jackson Hole be listed, especially in winter?
YYZatcboy From Canada, joined Apr 2005, 823 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 12527 times:
YTZ should be in that list. Short runway, Second steepest ILS in the world with water on all sides and buildings or smoke stacks that you have to avoid upon takeoff.
mattrockIND From United States of America, joined Sep 2010, 19 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (2 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 12430 times:
If nothing else, watching YouTube videos of AA 752s landing at TGU shows you what kind of aircraft the 752 is. For a casual flyer/traveler, it's more than a little impressive to watch pilots finagle that final approach. Do any of the pilots on the forum like/dislike this airport because of that?
25 CobraManeuver: one scary place to land your bird.
26 Western727: Concur. Not to say Madeira isn't an interesting place to land - it very much is - but "dangerous" doesn't enter the mind. The TAP 330 video linked fr
27 Western727: Friend of mine who used to fly for AA (skippers 717s for FL now) once said of TGU: "you always wanted a cup of coffee before flying the approach".
28 rampart: Yes, but the valley is wider than ASE. I'm not aware of aircraft restrictions at Jackson Hole that they do have at Aspen. GUC Gunnison/Crested Butte
29 cabochris: Toncotin is just dirty, just dirty. Although it has improved slighty in the last few years with the removal of the knol where you turn final and navig
30 jwenting: Saba isn't too bad. It's just short and as it's on a cliff you have to carefully watch your altitude over the water on your approach. St. Barths is a
31 intsim: Hello, I once was riding in an EMB120 into St. George, Utah (Old airport). Bouncy as heck coming in, late touchdown followed by hard braking right to
32 ferminbrif: The complete list of the world's ten most extreme airports, according to the History Channel, follows: 01 - Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA), aka Lukla A
33 RobK: Love the comments edited into the Lukla video in the first post.
34 zippyjet: Isn't ironic, that some of the best pictures are of jumbos landing at this airport right over the beach! A tropical ocean beach, Boeing 747's and hot
35 trystero: Please check the geography. Madeira is the biggest island in Madeira archipelago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeira Azores is an archipelago. http
36 Luftfahrer: Has anybody ever considered LCY? It has a fairly short (1,508 m) and narrow runway and is surrounded by water for the most part as well as obstacles.
37 ca2ohHP: I'm kind of surprised Telluride, CO (KTEX) isn't mentioned.
38 TVNWZ: The order in the article is reversed. Most dangerous at the bottom.
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