Buckle Up! 10 of The World’s Scariest Runways
Words by Katherine C. Eustaquio
Published in Action & Fitness Magazine June 2009 issue
Whether you’re a seasoned jet-setter of a person suffering from an overdose of sheer wanderlust, let’s see if you’re brave enough to take on the world’s scariest runways. Fasten your seatbelts!
Matekane Air Strip, Lesotho
To get your blood pumping and your ears ringing, imagine taxiing the 1,312-foot-long runway located at the edge of a deep gorge at 7,550 feet and dropping down from a 2,000-foot cliff while waiting for the plane to start flying. If that won’t make your blood curdle, we don’t know what will.
Paro Airport, Bhutan
Hailed as one of the world’s most challenging airports, it is tucked at the altitude of 2,235 (7,333ft) in a steep valley on the bank of Paro River and is surrounded by the 16,000-foot-high peaks of the Himalayan Range. The national carrier, Drukair, is the only airline serving Paro’s lone runway. Only daytime flights are allowed under strict visual meteorological conditions (VMC). At present, there are only eight specially trained pilots certified to maneuver the aircraft through the narrow tree-packed hillsides by using special flying techniques, leaving the passengers with a sickening feel in the pits of their stomachs.
Gibraltar Airport, Gibraltar
It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean (east) and Gibraltar Bay (west), with a total length of just 6,000 feet. Landing on this runway requires pinpoint precision as the pilots must hit the auto-brakes as soon as they hit the tarmac. Due to the area’s unusual weather patterns, some flights are diverted to Tangiers, Malaga, or Faro.
Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten
The runway is 7,152 feet and is just perfect for small and medium-sized jets and barely long enough for heavy jets. It’s ranked as the second busiest airport in all of the Eastern Caribbean; therefore it also caters to the big boys such as the Boeing 747’s and Airbus A340’s. Landing on this narrow runway is also harrowing for the half-naked vacationers of the Maho Beach because the aircraft fly over the perimeter, giving the sun-worshippers a clear view of the aircraft’s belly.
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York
Pilots taking the JFK runway in Hew York are required to take the Canarsie Approach to avoid clashing with the flights from two nearby airports, the LaGuardia and Newark. This approach is the solution to the residents’ noise complaints. The pilots are forced to have the required 1,500-foot ceiling and the five-mile visibility for the circular approach and then getting in line with runway 13L. As if that’s not challenging enough, the wild waters of the Jamaica Bay give the passengers an extra shot of toe-curling adrenaline rush.
Toncontin Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Visualize flying over a mountainous terrain then making a last 45-degree left turn while you’re still airborne before landing on a bowl-shaped runway 6,112 feet in length. Narrow and steep, the airport rests at an altitude of 3,924 feet.
Reagan National Airport, Washington, DC
In March 2008, a small aircraft skimmed over a restricted airspace near the airport. Congress was evacuated and military planes were scrambled. The Reagan National Airport is located in the middle to two air-exclusion zones that house sensitive sites like the Pentagon, CIA Headquarters, and the White House. Landing requires the pilots to follow River Visual Approach by the book while taking off means climbing quickly and taking a steep left turn to avoid flying over the White House. Talk about flying with a stiff neck!
Barra Airport, Scotland
Imagine slipping on your favorite bikini while you’re still airborne (amid the knowing eyes of the flight attendants, of course) and landing on the beach! Well, at least that’s close enough. The Barra Airport on the Outer Hebridean Island of Barra is, in fact, a shallow bay packed with hardened sand. Certainly, is one of the wonders of the world of aviation as the roughness of the landings is dependent on the altitude of the tides.
Madeira Airport, Funchal
Pilots taking the Madeira runway are specially trained in employing the required clockwise approach. The airport is located right smack in the middle of the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, thus making flying a real challenge. In 2000, an elevated extension was added, stretching the runway up to 9,000 feet. Still, approaching Runway 05 is almost a stunt in itself as the pilots must aim the aircraft at the mountains and then make a last-minute right turn to align the plane with the runway. Whew!
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba, Netherlands Antilles
Pilots approaching this airport’s runway must brave the trade winds and occasional spindrifts before making a perfect landing. The operative word here is “perfect” since this runway doe not tolerate a margin of error, being only 1,300 feet long (or short, if we’re being precise here). If you want to experience the perfect aircraft landing (and I do mean that quite literally), brave this runway and see for yourself why it’s one of the world’s scariest runways.
Published in Action & Fitness Magazine June 2009 issue
Whether you’re a seasoned jet-setter of a person suffering from an overdose of sheer wanderlust, let’s see if you’re brave enough to take on the world’s scariest runways. Fasten your seatbelts!
Matekane Air Strip, Lesotho
To get your blood pumping and your ears ringing, imagine taxiing the 1,312-foot-long runway located at the edge of a deep gorge at 7,550 feet and dropping down from a 2,000-foot cliff while waiting for the plane to start flying. If that won’t make your blood curdle, we don’t know what will.
Paro Airport, Bhutan
Hailed as one of the world’s most challenging airports, it is tucked at the altitude of 2,235 (7,333ft) in a steep valley on the bank of Paro River and is surrounded by the 16,000-foot-high peaks of the Himalayan Range. The national carrier, Drukair, is the only airline serving Paro’s lone runway. Only daytime flights are allowed under strict visual meteorological conditions (VMC). At present, there are only eight specially trained pilots certified to maneuver the aircraft through the narrow tree-packed hillsides by using special flying techniques, leaving the passengers with a sickening feel in the pits of their stomachs.
Gibraltar Airport, Gibraltar
It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean (east) and Gibraltar Bay (west), with a total length of just 6,000 feet. Landing on this runway requires pinpoint precision as the pilots must hit the auto-brakes as soon as they hit the tarmac. Due to the area’s unusual weather patterns, some flights are diverted to Tangiers, Malaga, or Faro.
Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten
The runway is 7,152 feet and is just perfect for small and medium-sized jets and barely long enough for heavy jets. It’s ranked as the second busiest airport in all of the Eastern Caribbean; therefore it also caters to the big boys such as the Boeing 747’s and Airbus A340’s. Landing on this narrow runway is also harrowing for the half-naked vacationers of the Maho Beach because the aircraft fly over the perimeter, giving the sun-worshippers a clear view of the aircraft’s belly.
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York
Pilots taking the JFK runway in Hew York are required to take the Canarsie Approach to avoid clashing with the flights from two nearby airports, the LaGuardia and Newark. This approach is the solution to the residents’ noise complaints. The pilots are forced to have the required 1,500-foot ceiling and the five-mile visibility for the circular approach and then getting in line with runway 13L. As if that’s not challenging enough, the wild waters of the Jamaica Bay give the passengers an extra shot of toe-curling adrenaline rush.
Toncontin Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Visualize flying over a mountainous terrain then making a last 45-degree left turn while you’re still airborne before landing on a bowl-shaped runway 6,112 feet in length. Narrow and steep, the airport rests at an altitude of 3,924 feet.
Reagan National Airport, Washington, DC
In March 2008, a small aircraft skimmed over a restricted airspace near the airport. Congress was evacuated and military planes were scrambled. The Reagan National Airport is located in the middle to two air-exclusion zones that house sensitive sites like the Pentagon, CIA Headquarters, and the White House. Landing requires the pilots to follow River Visual Approach by the book while taking off means climbing quickly and taking a steep left turn to avoid flying over the White House. Talk about flying with a stiff neck!
Barra Airport, Scotland
Imagine slipping on your favorite bikini while you’re still airborne (amid the knowing eyes of the flight attendants, of course) and landing on the beach! Well, at least that’s close enough. The Barra Airport on the Outer Hebridean Island of Barra is, in fact, a shallow bay packed with hardened sand. Certainly, is one of the wonders of the world of aviation as the roughness of the landings is dependent on the altitude of the tides.
Madeira Airport, Funchal
Pilots taking the Madeira runway are specially trained in employing the required clockwise approach. The airport is located right smack in the middle of the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, thus making flying a real challenge. In 2000, an elevated extension was added, stretching the runway up to 9,000 feet. Still, approaching Runway 05 is almost a stunt in itself as the pilots must aim the aircraft at the mountains and then make a last-minute right turn to align the plane with the runway. Whew!
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba, Netherlands Antilles
Pilots approaching this airport’s runway must brave the trade winds and occasional spindrifts before making a perfect landing. The operative word here is “perfect” since this runway doe not tolerate a margin of error, being only 1,300 feet long (or short, if we’re being precise here). If you want to experience the perfect aircraft landing (and I do mean that quite literally), brave this runway and see for yourself why it’s one of the world’s scariest runways.
