Have you ever been on an airplane when your fellow passengers start clapping once the plane lands safely? It does seem rather odd to congratulate the flight crew for a quick, safe and relatively routine landing. But sometimes, depending upon where those wheels touch down, that round of applause might be very well deserved. Not every airport welcomes pilots with easy landings and some require special training and licenses. Even then, it’s a challenge to maneuver around natural obstacles like mountains or cliffs and deal with short runways and oftentimes unpredictable weather. While flying has proven to statistically be among the safest modes of transportation, sometimes passengers will grip their armrests or say a prayer before their aircraft greets the ground. That would certainly be the case if you’re flying into one of the world’s most dangerous airports reviewed here. I’d wager each of them promises a spectacular ride (if you could bear to keep your eyes open)! Read on.
Nepal’s Tenzing-Hillary Airport
Tenzing-Hillary, also known as the Lukla Airport, is located 9,383 feet above sea level, surrounded by mountainous terrain. Its short runway is only 1,729 feet long. (Don’t forget ,it’s common for commercial runways to measure between 7,000 and 10,000 feet in length.) This airport also sits on the edge of a cliff, with a 2,000-foot drop on one side and a stone wall on the other. The weather is highly unpredictable in these mountains too, so the flights only operate in the morning but it’s still common for flights to get canceled due to sudden snow or fog. A pilot may even decide to return to Kathmandu if the weather seems unfavorable because once they initiate the descent, they really have no choice but to land. Only small planes and helicopters are permitted to use the Lukla Airport and pilots need special training, including at least one hundred short take-offs and landings, one year of experience in Nepal under such conditions, and ten successful flights to Lukla accompanied by a certified instructor. Not withstanding, the airport has a history of plane crashes. In 2019, three people died when a plane veered off the runway and hit a helicopter. In 2008, eighteen people perished after a pilot initiated what turned into an unsuccessful landing. More incidents have happened. In fact, over the past twenty years, there have been seven deadly accidents, killing over fifty passengers and crew. So, why do people still want to fly here? A town with fewer than 500 people, Lukla also happens to be the popular starting point for the Mount Everest trek.
St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport
This airport on the Caribbean Island of Saint Maarten sits right next to a public beach with the sand on one side and mountains on the other. For many, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience as aircraft fly so low that sunbathers get a good blast of wind and sand whenever a plane arrives. AvGeeks flock to the beach to get selfies of the dramatic take-offs and landings. (It’s on my bucket list). The runway is 7,100 feet, only just long enough for heavy jets to safely land. The largest planes approaching the island fly extremely low and pass anywhere from just 30 feet to 60 feet above Maho Beach. While there are numerous signs warning people to stay back as jet blast from departing planes can topple them over and cause injuries, folks don’t always exercise necessary caution. Unfortunately, a woman was killed in 2017 due to head injuries she suffered after getting knocked over while standing by the airport fence.
Bhutan’s Paro International Airport
Bhutan’s Paro International Airport is frequently featured on lists of the “world’s most dangerous airports.” Less than two dozen pilots are certified to make the manual by-daylight-only approach between 18,000 foot mountain peaks, through a long, winding valley and onto a runway that’s just 7,431 feet long, and visible only moments before landing. Very few pilots are certified to land at Bhutan’s Paro International Airport, and not without reason. First, there is no instrument landing system (ILS) to guide aircraft onto the runway. These pilots need to rely entirely on their own skills, according to procedures for landing that have been designed by experienced pilots and aircraft manufacturers. These specify at which speed and altitude the aircraft needs to be at specific visual landmark check-points as the pilots make their approaches. For these reasons, flights are only allowed during daylight and only under good visibility, and can often be diverted due to cloud cover. As if having to check for the visual landmarks and the runway while piloting an airplane wasn’t stressful enough, pilots also need to watch out for electrical poles and nearby house roofs on the hillside as they maneuver between the mountains at a 45-degree angle before dropping quickly onto the runway. Whew!
Portugal’s Madeira Airport
Also known as Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, landing at the Portuguese Island of Madeira can cause even the most confident fliers to appreciate the ground beneath their feet after touchdown. The short airstrip is strategically placed between the cliffs and the ocean, and it's been extended with 180 columns in the water in an effort to make it safer for planes to land. The dangerous Atlantic winds add to the drama and the airport’s notorious for its turbulent landings that can shake anyone up. No wonder very few pilots are cleared to land here. Madeira sits in the Atlantic Ocean around 250 miles north of the Canary Islands, and 621 miles southwest of the Portuguese Capital of Lisbon. Madeira International Airport was controversially renamed after one of the island’s most famous sons – footballer Christiano Ronaldo. What makes the airport renowned is its peculiarly perilous approach for even the most experienced aircraft pilots. It is rated as the ninth most dangerous airport in the world and the third most dangerous in Europe. The island suffers from strong and extremely variable Atlantic winds, and the airport features mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. At one end, the runway terminates in a cliff with a motorway running below it, while the other end is on a platform built on stilts with a long drop off at the end. The runway sits only 230 feet above the coastline.
Greenland’s Narsarsuaq Airport
https://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/england/3987-winston-churchill-avenue.html
This airport was constructed by the US Army in June, 1941 as a base on a glacial morai at what is now the village of Narsarsuaq, near the southern tip of Greenland. It was built as part of a strategic North Atlantic ferry route during the Second World War. The base had a peak population of about 4,000 American servicemen, and it’s estimated that some 10,000 aircraft landed there en route to the war in Europe and North Africa.There are multiple reasons why this airport in the southern part of Greenland is scary. It’s situated amid fjords—great for a picture but not so perfect for planes. The approach to the 6,000-foot runway through these fjords is tricky and pilots need to make a 90-degree turn at one point which can be very challenging due to the prevailing strong winds. Then, there are nearby volcanoes that may erupt ash reducing visibility before shutting down aircraft engines! It can be treacherous to fly here at night, so only daytime landing and take off operations are permitted. Because the runway slopes up west to east, landings were (and still are) predominantly made to the east, with take-offs to the west, regardless of the wind direction. There is no no control tower at Narsarsuaq, and respective ceiling and visibility requirements are mandatory on all approach procedures.
British Overseas Territory’s Gibraltar Airport
The Gibraltar Airport, sometimes called the North Front Airport, is the civilian airport that serves the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is considered the most dangerous airport in Europe. The runway lies between a monolith (the Rock of Gibraltar) and the bustling city and ends abruptly with the sea on either side. It’s exposed to strong cross winds, not only around the rock, but also across the Bay of Gibraltar, making landings in winter particularly uncomfortable. Often, the winds are too high for landing and aircraft are re-directed to Malaga Airport in Spain. Situated on the strip between the Mediterranean and the Bay of Gibraltar, the airport’s 6,000 foot runway is not for the faint hearted. Pilots must engage full brakes the moment their wheels touch the ground in order to avoid ending up in the water. But that’s not the scariest part. What puts Gibraltar on this list is because its runway intersects with busy Winston Churchill Avenue, so the road has to be closed off every time a plane arrives or takes off. And if that weren’t enough, there is no Instrument Landing System at Gibraltar. In poor visibility, pilots are talked into their final approach by air traffic control using radar.
There are a number of additional airports around the world that are considered to be especially dangerous. We’ll take a look at them in a future post.
Until next time…safe travels.