Arriving at your destination is best achieved if you travel by plane. Not all runways are long, some locations are located in a restricted area and marked as extremely dangerous airports. The end of the journey, where runways located in mountains or narrow valleys are challenging. These are the world’s most dangerous airports to land on:
1. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on Saba Island
Image Credit: Fyodor Borisov
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is the shortest commercial runway with only 400 meters in length. It is located almost 45 km south of St. Maarten on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba. Despite the appearance of its incredibly incredible runways, it is considered to be the most dangerous airport to land in and a challenge even for more experienced pilots.
2. Nepal Lukla Airport
Located between two mountains, the runway of this airport is extremely short. It is the airport for those travelers who want to visit Mt. Everest. Sometimes the air traffic controllers are nowhere on the scene, so the pilots have to land the plane on their own. It is very risky to land on this runway without lights and electrical power is limited.
3. Princess Juliana International Airport St. Maarten
Image credit: Sean Pavone / Shutterstock.com
Another airport located in the Dutch Caribbean that has an extremely dangerous runway, located in St. Marten, is Princess Juliana International Airport. It is perhaps the most popular on the list of airports that have a beach before their runway. It creates a huge and loud gust of wind and disrupts the sand for beachgoers trying to relax and enjoy the fascinating blue water. Pilots have no problem hitting visitors, and the primary concern is having only 2,179 m of runway. It may sound long, but when you think of a large aircraft that needs more than 2,500 m to guarantee a safe landing, the finest pilot gets a little sweaty.
4. Narsarsuaq Airport in Greenland
A place where green is not taken literally, in fact, this place is icy and white! Similar to Antarctica, Narsarsuaq Airport has ice and cold and is probably among the world’s most difficult airstrips to land on. Attempting to land here is stressful because the runway is covered with smooth ice and is only 1,800 m long. There is also continuous stormy weather that creates strong turbulence, and visibility is poor. Also, there are active erupting volcanoes that throw ash into the sky, often threatening to disrupt and destroy engines!
5. Toncontin Airport in Honduras
Seeing the mountains surrounding Toncontin airport is spectacular, they are an obstacle to a safe landing. It is located 1,004 m above the water level in the valley and due to its mountainous terrain, pilots had to turn at a 45 degree angle to effectively reach the airport runway. Because of this, the rapid drop in altitude that passengers experience causes the stomach to rise and the eardrums to burst. The steady wind makes landing difficult, resulting in their last change before landing.
6. McMurdo Air Station in Antarctica
Another culprit on the list of dangerous airports at McMurdo Air Station located in Antarctica. With usually below zero year round. The runway of the US Antarctic Station is long, icy and with changeable weather. You may not be concerned about its freezing temperature. But if you know that pilots land airplanes using night vision goggles that fit because of the darkness all day, you might change your mind!
7. Portugal’s Madeira Airport
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Madeira Airport, nestled between cliffs and ocean shores and its short runway, is well known for its variable winds, although that’s not the only stressful aspect! The airport was expanded to 2780 meters in 2000. While this sounds good, the extension built over the ocean has 180 columns. If you accidentally drift too far on a not-so-good day, your plane could go sideways!
8. Bhutan Paro Airport
Paro Airport is located in the Himalayan Mountains at an altitude of 2225 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountain peaks 5486 meters high. The location of this airport is on the banks of the Paro Chu River. The terrain is unforgiving and the weather extremely bad that flights are only allowed under visual meteorological conditions and are limited to daylight hours only. Undoubtedly, only a few pilots worldwide are qualified to land at Bhutan’s Paro airport.
9. Japanese MCAS in Futenma
Among the most dangerous airports in the world is Okinawa, Japan, which is located at the US Marine Corps Air Station. With V-22 Ospreys and F/A-18 Hornets constantly landing and taking off, this airfield is a sight to behold. Although the view of the jets is stunning, this airport runway is located in a high-density zone that makes landing difficult.
10. I’ll be there for you
With mountains surrounding the area and strong crosswinds, this makes it one of the world’s most dangerous airports. With a large number of high-rises in the northern part of the airport and a runway projected into Victoria Harbour, the landings were extremely high-end and technically challenging for the pilots. Dubbed the “mother of all terrible airports”, it was closed in 1998 for the opening of Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, 30 km to the west.
