NIGHTMARE AIRPORTS
Added on: 14th Jul 2015
TONCONTIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
HONDURAS
The History Channel’s Most Extreme Airports ranked this airport as
the second most dangerous airport in the world and for a good
reason. Its runway is located in a valley surrounded by mountains and
the way in is also the way out for the planes, which of course increases
the risk for tragedy. Surprisingly, and despite all these extremely
high-risk factors, planes as enormous as Boeing 757s land and take
off from this airport daily.
GIBRALTAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, GIBRALTAR
After taking a quick look this airport might look perfectly normal to you
but if you take the time to look a little closer, you will notice a couple
of unusual features about the international airport of Gibraltar.
Undoubtedly, the most exceptional thing about this airport is that the
main landing strip passes through the city’s main street. Yep, you
guessed right. Every time an aircraft has to land or take off, the
vehicles in the city have to stop for the train to pass . . . oops,
for the plane to fly we meant.
MADEIRA AIRPORT, PORTUGAL
This small, international airport, which takes you to the beautiful island
of Madeira, Portugal, has a very short runway even though its size was
doubled back in 2003. Additionally, the ocean surrounds it on one side
and high, rough mountains on the other. It is widely considered one of the
most dangerous airports in the world and after looking at a picture of it
we’re sure you can immediately understand why.
PRINCESS JULIANA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
SAINT MARTIN
There wouldn’t be much of an issue if this airport was in an isolated
location but Princess Juliana International Airport is one of the busiest
airports in the Caribbean. To land at Princess Juliana, pilots have to
fly over a little part of the beach, cross over the fence, pass over the
road, and then, finally, land on the runway, which makes it a candidate
for the title of the most dangerous airport in the world.
ICE RUNWAY, ANTARCTICA
Ice Runway is one of three major airstrips used to haul supplies and
researchers to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station. It was developed to
allow Boeing 757s to bring passengers there, freeing up space on
incoming C17s for greater cargo capacity. As you can probably imagine
by now the real dangers with this airport have more to do with the extreme
weather conditions, rather than the design or position of the airport itself.
GUSTAF III AIRPORT, SAINT BARTHÉLEMY
This airport has an impossible-to-believe short runway that usually
accommodates small aircraft carrying fewer than twenty passengers.
The runway is at the base of a slope that ends on the beach.
Additionally, planes exercise caution during the approach because
of the hilltop traffic, while taking off literally occurs over the heads of
all the people who are sunbathing on the sand or swimming in the water.
QAMDO BAMDA AIRPORT, TIBET
Tibet is located in the world’s highest mountains, the Himalayas, so it
shouldn’t surprise anyone that Qamdo Bamda Airport is one of the
world’s highest, perched more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Another
extraordinary and extreme feature of this airport is its 3.5-mile-long
runway, which is considered to be the longest in the world.
The lower concentration of oxygen at such altitude may cause some
discomfort to newcomers and it also lowers the aircraft engines’
performance, making landing there a nightmarish experience
for everyone on the plane.
JUANCHO E. YRAUSQUIN AIRPORT, SABA ISLAND
To get to this naturally beautiful Caribbean island can be quite an
experience, since this airport is really nothing more than a 1,300-foot-long
runway. Surrounded by high cliffs, this dangerously short runway,
which would make an amazing spot for BMX or skateboard competitions,
comes dangerously close to a steep slope that leads directly to the ocean.
As one can easily understand large planes aren’t landing there for a
reason, but the small runway is difficult even for Cessnas’ aircraft and others.
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