Sometimes “urban legends” arise about some airports. Your hear things like: “They say that that airport is not safe for landings… They say that it’s a miracle that an accident has not happened yet…” Remarks of this kind are followed by information spread by word of mouth. In order to bring a different point of view to this subject, in this page on “Aviation Trends” we are first going to deal with “difficult landings.”
Air travel has become a standard transportation method for long trips all over the world. What was once a special event has become an ordinary part of daily life. For example, we are no longer amazed when big companies fly their personnel to and from work, and whenever we want to go somewhere within the country the first thing we do is check the flights and keep a close eye on flight promotions! The pace at which perception of air travel has been changing over the past 10 years is truly remarkable!
Since flying has become a daily habit--and a very widespread one--people fly to places that the man on the street would never have thought of! This reality of flight is far different from comments such as, “Landing at that airport is nothing short of a miracle; the place is not safe for landing… The pictures on this page are all real, so we wish a good landing to all those who happen to go there…
Let us look together at these out-of-the-ordinary airports. You will be amazed when you see some of the airports that gigantic jumbo jets land at daily, at the conclusion of long international and intercontinental flights.
The Princess Juliana International Airport The Caribbean
There isn’t an aviator who has not heard of this airport. While pilots of gigantic aircraft such as the MD-11, B-747-400, weighing hundreds of tons, sweat blood in order to land on a runway only 2,180 meters long, the people on the beach below also sweat blood when planes fly 10 to 20 meters above them, emitting hot exhaust fumes. In order to be able to land at the very beginning of this extraordinarily short runway and have the necessary distance to stop, planes practically graze the sea and seem to pose for incredible shots!
The Princess Juliana International Airport - The Caribbean
The Courchevel Airport - France
Amidst the breath-taking beauty of the French Alps there is also a breath-taking airport. How crazy does one have to be to land or to depart from a runway that is 525 meters long and has an incline of 18.5%. James Bond was one such person. British actor Pierce Brosnan, who starred in “Tomorrow Never Dies,” used this airport in the opening scene of the film. While the out-of-the-ordinary incline helps planes decelerate and stop, it also enables departing planes that run downhill to accelerate with the help of the force of gravity. If you are not an incorrigible ski buff or the next young star to play in the newest version of the James Bond series, you will not be able to experience the unbelievable excitement of this airport. What a pity!
The Courchevel Airport - France
The Funchal Airport, Madeira - Portugal
Those who might think that ancient Greek or Roman ruins are the only place to see gigantic columns should think again. This airport, located on the slopes of tall mountains and right on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, was once a nightmare of an airport with its runway of only 1,400 meters. It is not difficult to assume that this airport, located on an island like the tourism paradise of Madeira, could never be an international airport. Its terribly difficult approach and landing finally pushed Portuguese authorities in 2003 to produce an out-of-the-ordinary solution that would be recorded in the history of engineering. Following an analysis on what to do to extend the runway by only 400 meters, the solution accepted—actually considered easier than filling the sea--was to build the runway on 180 columns, each 70 metres high. As a result they achieved both a runway and the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) award, considered the Oscar of the construction sector.
The Funchal Airport, Madeira - Portugal
The Sir Edmund Hillary Airport, Lukla - Nepal
Nepal was once the place that the hippy generation wished to go to, to “fly” to Nirvana. Nowadays it is the best place to go to climb Mount Everest, and it therefore is the favourite airport for mountaineers. But the airport is not the kind that everyone would like to fly to. On one end of the runway there is a mountain of granite that towers like a wall and on the other end there is an abyss 1,000 meters deep. Departures mean a nightmare of another kind, because in an airport at an elevation of 2,900 metres, the engines cannot perform fully. And you must also pray that people who take their daily walk on the runway--because of its nice and quiet atmosphere--notice you in time. So why don’t aircraft manufacturers put horns on planes?
The Sir Edmund Hillary Airport, Lukla - Nepal
The Toncontin Airport, Tegucigalpa - Honduras A funny name for an airport, isn’t it? But what is even stranger is that an airport with a runway of only 1,850 meters, and which has a stopping distance of only 1,637 metres in landings from the number 02 end, is known as an “International Airport.” And if you consider that once you have passed the hills at the two ends of the airport you need to land “falling” like a stone among apartment blocks, you will be happy that you do not need to go to Honduras.
The Toncontin Airport, Tegucigalpa - Honduras
Is that all? Of course not. We have shown you only the five most unusual airports here. Otherwise we could also list the Wellington Airport in New Zealand and the London City Airport in London. And then there some airports that are not out-of-the-ordinary and if you examined their ILS facilities or infrastructure technology you might think that they are “perfect airports.” But you would be surprised to hear that they cause nightmares for pilots.
As a result, one must not forget that… However advanced the technology and methods implemented may be, the real strength that holds the key to success is in the skills, knowledge, experience and instincts of man…
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