Landing At Any Of These Hazardous Airports Will Be A Terrifying Experience For Passengers Of All Experience Levels, From Those Who Have Never Flown Before To Those Who Fly Frequently.
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Lukla Airport, Nepal
If You Are Flying Into Lukla, It Is Highly Probable That You Are On Your Way To Climb Mount Everest. You May Have Danger As Your Middle Name, But This Airport Is Hazardous Not Only Because Of The Incredibly Tiny Runway,
But Also Because Of Its Height, Placement Between Mountains, And, Oh Yeah, The Absence Of Power And Air Traffic Controllers. It’s Possible That Taking On Everest Will Be The Least Terrifying Of All!
Honduras, Toncontin International Airport
Another High Altitude Airport Makes The List Because, According To Interesting Engineering, In Order For Planes To Prepare For The Descent Into Toncontin Airport, “They Must Make A Quick 45-Degree Bank Turn To Reach The Runway In A Valley Then Rapidly Drop Altitude, Being Careful Not To Scrape The Terrain Directly Underneath.”
In Other Words, In Order For Planes To Prepare For The Descent Into Toncontin Airport, “They Must Make A Quick 45-Degree Turn To Reach The Runway In A Valley.” Review The Following Information About How To Stay Alive In The Event Of An Airplane Disaster Before You Board Your Flight.
St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport Is Referred To As “Pjia.”
More Than 8,000 Feet Of Runway Space Is Necessary For The Safe Landing Of The Huge, Wide-Body Planes That Bring Tourists To And From St. Maarten.
The Lovely Princess Juliana Airport Has A Runway That Is 7,100 Feet Long, But It Is Technically Too Short Because It Was Built For The Smaller Planes That Used To Visit The Island Before The Tourism Boom Arrived.
This Is What Makes The Airport Unsafe. The Sunbathers On The Beach Below Are Not The Cause Of The Risk.
But Have No Worry, For After You Land, There Will Be Fruity Beverages With Umbrellas Waiting To Calm Your Jittery Nerves. The Landing On St. Maarten, Despite The Potential Danger Involved, Is Undeniably Breathtaking.
Paro Airport, Bhutan
How Dangerous Is It To Land At This Relatively Modest Airport, Which Has A Minuscule Runway That Is Only 6,500 Feet Long And Is Situated Among Peaks That Are 18,000 Feet High In The Himalayan Mountains?
There Are A Grand Total Of Only Eight Pilots That Are Capable Of Landing Their Aircraft At This Airport In Paro.
Airport In Narsarsuaq, Which Is Located In Greenland
At No Other Airport On The Face Of The Globe Does A Pilot Have To Deal With The Same Complex Mixture Of Elements That Are Present At This Hazardous Airport. Landing At Narsarsuaq Airport In Greenland Is Not For Passengers Who Are Easily Fazed.
In Addition To Having Short Runways That Are Covered In Ice, The Airport Also Has Extremely Cold Temperatures, Harsh Winds, And Reduced Visibility Caused Not Just By Heavy Snow But Also By Ash Clouds From Surrounding Active Volcanoes.
Madeira Airport, Portugal
It Has Been Reported By Jalopnik That “Only 20 Captains With British Airways Are Qualified To Operate Into Madeira Airport (Fnc), In Which They Use Waypoints Like A Banana Shed [To Guide Them In].”
In Addition To This, There Is “No Instrument Landing System (Ils),” Which Means That Pilots Are Forced To Manually Navigate The Difficult Terrain.
Because Of The Strong And Highly Unpredictable Atlantic Winds, Mountains On One Side, And The Ocean On The Other, The Destination Is Especially Hazardous.
Also, Don’t Forget That The Runway Was Built Out Into The Water On 180 Concrete Pillars In Order To Increase Its Length From 5,249 Feet To 9,124 Feet; As A Result, It Is Now Similar To A Runway That Is Elevated On Stilts.
The Prestigious Outstanding Structure Award, Which Is Sometimes Referred To As The “Oscars” Of Structural Engineering, Was Bestowed Upon The Ambitious Project In 2004.
Airport In Courchevel, Located In France
This Treacherous Airport Is Located In The French Alps, Close To The Border With Italy. It Serves Ski Resorts And The Adventurous Visitors Who Come To Visit Them. The Altitude Of The Courchevel Airport Is 6,500 Feet, Which Is One Factor That Contributes To Its Risky Nature.
However, The Airport’s Runway Is Just 1,760 Feet Long, And It Has An 18.5 Percent Gradient Slope, Which Means That The Small Planes That Land Here Have To Do So At An Angle In Order To Slow Down.
This Airport Is Dangerous To Use In Inclement Weather Because It Does Not Have Any Illumination And Does Not Have An Approach System. As A Result, This Airport Falls Anywhere On The Spectrum Between Dangerous And Outright Impossible To Use.
Gibraltar Airport, Gibraltar
Wow Travel Reports That There Is Only One Runway At The Gibraltar Airport, And That This Potentially Hazardous Runway Runs Directly Through The Middle Of The Main Thoroughfare In The City.
“Every Time An Airplane Lands Or Takes Off, Vehicles Are Required To Come To A Complete Stop. There Has, For Some Reason, Never Been A Significant Accident. Learn More About The Little-Known Feature Of Airplanes That Might Well End Up Saving Your Life.
Gisborne Airport, Which Is Located In New Zealand
Landings At Gisborne Airport On The Eastern Edge Of New Zealand’s North Island Are Required To Be Coordinated With The National Rail Service.
This Is Because The Palmerston North–Gisborne Line Runs Directly Across The One Main Paved And Three Grass Runways At Gisborne Airport. Road Traffic In Gibraltar Is Required To Come To A Complete Halt For Airplanes To Land There.
Mcas Futenma, Okinawa Japan
According To The Diplomat, “The Situation At Mcas Futenma Is In Direct Violation Of The Safety Standards Set Down For Military Airfields By The United States Department Of The Navy In Accordance With Regulations Established By The Federal Aviation Administration (Faa).”
The Hazardous Runway Of The United States Marine Corps Air Station Is Located Smack Dab In The Heart Of A Large Metropolis. There Are Schools, Hospitals, Businesses, And More Than 3,000 Residents In The Area That Is Meant To Be A “Clear Zone.”
Butte, Montana Airport Named After Bert Mooney
This Scenic Airport Between Yellowstone And Glacier National Parks Ranks As One Of The Most Dangerous Ones Despite The Fact That It Has A Lovely New Terminal That Cost $10.5 Million Dollars.
This Is Because There Is No Control Tower At The Airport, And Pilots Have To Skirt Various Impediments While Landing.
Airport Serving Aspen And Pitkin County, Located In Colorado
Any Airport That Calls For Specialized Pilot Training Will Almost Certainly Find Its Way Onto The List Of The Most Hazardous Airports In The World.
According To The Telegraph, The Airport In Aspen Meets The Requirements Because Of Its Steep Approach And The Mountains That Surround The Runway.
These Factors Need Specially Skilled Pilots To Land And Take Off In Opposing Directions While Using The Single Runway. Although Aspen Did Not Make The Cut, These Are The Major Airports In The United States That Are Considered To Be The Best.
Telluride Regional Airport, Colorado
It Should Come As No Surprise That Yet Another Airport In The Colorado Rocky Mountains Is Listed Among The Most Hazardous. The Telluride Regional Airport Is The Highest Commercial Airport In North America, As It Is Situated At An Elevation Of More Than 9,000 Feet Above Sea Level.
Even For Seasoned Aviators, Landing An Airplane At Telluride Can Be A Perilous Endeavor Due To The Presence Of Massive Cliffs On Either End Of The Airport’s Single Runway As Well As Strong Mountain Winds During The Winter Months.
Saba Airport, Located In The Netherlands Antilles
You Might Believe That King Kong Is Scary, But His “Native Island” (Saba Provided The Silhouette For Skull Island In The Original King Kong Film) In The Dutch Caribbean (Which Is Only A 15-Minute Flight From St. Maarten) Has An Airport That Is Far More Terrifying Than Anything The Renowned Gorilla Could Ever Do.
This Short And Narrow 1,300-Foot Runway Is Dangerous Enough To Have Even The Most Seasoned Tourist Grasping The Armrest During A Landing On This Jewel Of A Remote Caribbean Island Famed For Great Scuba Diving.
The Runway Is Perched Precariously On The Edge Of A Cliff, And Its Length Is Only 1,300 Feet.
Congonhas Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil
According To A Report By Forbes, The Regional Airport That Serves The 12 Million Residents Of Sao Paulo Is “Located In A Heavily Built-Up Part Of The Huge City And Gives You The Impression That You Are Scraping The Tops Of High Rise Buildings As You Land.”
“The Runways Are Considered The Most Slippery In The World And Have Resulted In A Large Number Of Fatal Crashes,” Which Makes This Airport One Of The Most Dangerous In The World.
This Is In Addition To The Busy Metropolis Coming Up From The Ground, Which Makes This Airport One Of The World’s Most Dangerous.
Airport Located In Svalbard, Norway
Svalbard Airport Is The Northernmost Airport In The World That Has Regularly Scheduled Public Flights. It Is Built On Top Of A Layer Of Permafrost.
Flights Are Only Allowed During Daylight Hours Because There Are No Lights On The Runway, Which Is Acceptable When There Is Daylight For All 24 Hours Of The Day During The Summer, But It Is Not Fine When The Opposite Reality Takes Place During The Winter.
Svalbard’s Longyearbyen Airport Lost Its International Designation In 2017 Due To The Fact That This Hazardous Airport Was Deemed To Not Be In Line With International Standards.
This Means That The Only Way To Reach This Remote Arctic Circle Airport, And The Only Way To Experience The Frequent Polar Bear Sightings On The Archipelago, Is From Troms Or Bergen On Mainland Norway. Explore Some Of The World’s Most Terrifying Airports, Both To Take Off From And To Land In.
Conclusion
There Is No Shortage Of Airports Across The World That Will Test Even The Most Experienced Pilots And Adrenaline Junkies. These 16 Airports Offer A Unique And Terrifying Experience, From Cliffside Runways At High Altitude To Those That Coordinate With National Rail Networks.
Despite The Risks And Adrenaline Rush Of Every Takeoff And Landing, These Airports Are Portals To Exotic Cultures, Breathtaking Landscapes, And Once-In-A-Lifetime Experiences.
No Matter How Many Times You’ve Flown, A Landing At One Of These Risky Airports Is Guaranteed To Stick Out In Your Mind. You Can Rest Assured That This Is One Ride You Won’t Forget!