Simple Flying ranked the most extreme airports due to their geographic locations,
frequent inclement weather, or both!
1-The first airport on our list is the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in downtown
Washington D.C. Pilots here must take unusually complicated paths to avoid restricted airspace
above landmarks and government buildings. Planes on approach must follow the Potomac River
while departing flights must ascend rapidly with a quick turn to avoid the White House. Pilots must
then reduce engine power once they have reached 1500 feet to comply with noise restrictions.
With sharp turns and the sudden de-acceleration on departure,
passengers have described flying out of Reagan National as “taking off on a space shuttle.”
2- Congonhas Airport is the busiest domestic airport in Brazil. Once an international airport
built outside the city center, Congonhas short runaways are now surrounded by heavily built-up
neighborhoods with tall residential and office towers. Planes here have to approach
very close to the tops of buildings, and it is quite a sight to peek into people’s living
rooms as a passenger as you are about to land! The slippery runways at Congonhas Airport have
also been the cause of several accidents. Most notably, TAM Airlines flight 3054 on the evening
of July 17th, 2007. The flight from Porto Alegre to São Paulo overran runaway 35L during moderate
rain, crashing into a Tam Express Warehouse next to a Shell Gas station. All 187 passengers
and crew plus 12 people on the ground perished. The accident was caused by errors committed by
the pilots during the landing at São Paulo in combination with the wet slippery runaway.The
runaway has been re-surfaced to address these issues. Recently,
an EMAS system that uses crushable material placed at the end of a runway to stop planes has been
installed to prevent aircraft overruns. 3- The majority of flights out of Congonhas
land at…. Santos Dumont Airport. The second major airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
This is a challenging airport with extremely short runways, surrounded by ocean,
and significant obstacles on both sides. On the north end, you have the tall Rio-Niteroi bridge
and the famous Sugar Loaf mountain at the south. Pilots have to negotiate the city’s mountainous
terrain by either: flying over the bay entrance, then quickly swerving behind the famous Sugar
Loaf mountain, or flying over central Rio and mountainous terrain, minding the bridge
seconds before touching down. Planes taking off have to quickly bank left to avoid Sugarloaf
or climb quickly to avoid the bridge at the other end. Santos Dumont's runaway also makes landings a
very intense breaking experience described by some passengers as “landing on an aircraft carrier.”
Boeing even launched a special modified version of the 737-800 specifically for this airport. The
short-field performance changes were developed in 2004 in response to Brazilian airline GOL's
needs at Santos Dumont. The design enhancements include a two-position tail skid that enables
reduced approach speeds, sealed leading-edge slats that provide increased lift during takeoff, and
increased flight spoiler deflection on the ground that improves takeoff and landing performance.
Since then, other airlines worldwide have also added 737-800 SFP to their fleets.
4- Aspen, Colorado, is considered one of the most challenging airports in the USA. Pilots landing
here must obtain special certification as the airport, wedged between two mountains, requires
a swift descent at a high altitude as the Aspen airport runaway is at an altitude of 7,820ft.
Aspen is also subject to snowstorms and low visibility with frequent cloud cover,
and to top all that, strong gusty winds that can change instantly, making Aspen
only for the most experienced pilots! 5-On the subject of windy airports,
we now come to Wellington Airport in New Zealand. Wellington is 'the windiest city in the world,
with an average of 178 days a year gusting at or above 63 km/h. The reason the airport
is very windy is because it sits on the edge of the Cook Strait – the major gap
between two mountain ranges running the length of the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
The bumpiest landings are usually experienced when landing on Northerly winds; the gale-force winds
travel over the city’s Northern suburbs hills, creating heavy turbulence over the bay and runway.
The gale-force winds can sometimes force pilots to go around and try again. Chicago O’Hare,
another windy city, has about 2 or 3 go-arounds a day on average. That is more than Wellington,
which can manage no go-arounds most days despite the windy conditions. O’Hare is a significantly
larger airport that handles many more flights per day, and go-arounds can occur for various reasons,
not just wind. Wellington, however, may offer passengers a roller-coaster of a ride!
6- Toncontín International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is next on our list.
To land at this airport — located on a small area surrounded by high mountains — pilots
descend steeply over the roofs of houses, flying very close to the mountainside onto the runway.
Many accidents, including TACA Flight 390 overran on May 30th 2008, forced the government
to rethink the airport's viability for large passenger jets. That led to the construction
of the new Palmerola Airport which opened in Dec-2021 for international flights, offering a
new gateway to the Central country. This meant Toncontín became a strictly domestic airport.
7- Funchal airport on the Portuguese island of Madeira is another challenging airport. The
strong winds break off the cliffs and create aggressive turbulence right above the runway.
Landing at this airport can become very difficult and even dangerous.
Funchal had its runaway extended twice to allow larger modern aircraft to land. The
extensions also prevent another crash like TAP’s Flight 425 in 1977, which overshot the runway
after two failed landing attempts and killed 131 of the 164 passengers on board.The most
recent extension in 2000 was built on a unique elevated platform over the rocky terrain below.
8- Bhutan’s Paro International Airport approach starts at an altitude of around 16000 ft (4800m)
through a long, winding valley 600ft (200 meters) wide at its narrowest point leading to a runway
that is only visible moments before landing. Pilots also need to watch for electrical poles
and house roofs on the hillside as they make their way between the mountains at a 45-degree angle
before dropping quickly onto the runway. 9- The Courchevel “altiport” is in a prime
location in the heart of the French Alps, and it is very convenient for holiday skiers.
The airfield has a very short runway of only 537 metres (1,762 ft) with a gradient of 18.6%.
Because of this, Courchevel has a “no go around” procedure due to the short runway ending straight
on the side of a mountain. This means that once the plane has committed to landing here,
there is not enough clearance to be able to take off and try again.
The airport does see a few small turboprops, such as the Pilatus PC-12, take off and land;
however, smaller fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters can better access the airfield.
Heavy and oversized jets can not land at Courchevel due to its uphill gradient,
steep approach, and the ‘no go around’ procedure. 10- Similar to Courchevel, the Tenzing- Hillary
Airport, also known as Lukla airport, is a short 1,500 feet (460 m) steep angled airstrip with
an 11.7% gradient on the side of the mountain, surrounded by steeper, mountainous terrain at the
edge of a cliff with a 2000ft (700m) drop! Lukla is over 3000 ft higher than Courchevel in altitude
at 9,337 feet. The reduced air resistance makes it more challenging to slow the plane down.
At high altitudes, the short runway, wind shear and unpredictable mountain weather
make Lukla the most challenging airport on our list. One of the worst accidents
here was the 8th October 2008 crash of a De Havilland DHC6 Twin otter from Yeti Airlines.
The plane burst into flames after impacting the airport fence and ground.
The fire took two hours to extinguish, with the plane sliding down 50 meters
from the original point of impact. Eighteen people, including 12 Germans, were killed.
And no list of extreme airports could forget to mention Saba!
The Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba is the bonus airport
on our list, and it is the shortest commercial airport in the world, with a runway length of just
1312 feet (400 meters)! There are no overrun areas on either end of the paved runway where sheer
cliffs drop off over 200 feet (60 meters) into the sea. Only regional airline propeller aircraft can
land here under waivers from The Netherlands Antilles' Civil Aviation Authority. The most
common aircraft are the STOL-capable de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and BN-2 Islander.
Have you ever had a white-knuckle experience at any of these airports?
Are there any other airports that should be on this list? Have your say in the comments.