- I took a little diversion
on the way back from filming last week's video.
It is very cold and windy at this altitude.
But, tucked away in the Swiss Alps,
there's a military airfield with not one
but two public roads that go straight across the runway
and I have wanted to see this for a long time.
This is Meiringen air base.
And not only do the fighter jets here
have to cope with civilian traffic crossing their runway
but the spectacle of military aircraft roaring down the tarmac
attracts tourists from all over the world.
So I wanted to ask: how do they operate an airbase
where the public aren't just turning up to watch
but they can also walk, ride, or drive straight through?
- I don't know how many times I took off,
how many times I've landed.
Well, let's say around a hundred takeoffs,
which equals a hundred landings.
But every single one is very cool.
At times, there can be a lot of tourists and observers
all around the airfield, especially in summer.
They stay behind the barriers. They're outside of the fence.
But it's all threat-level dependent.
So at the moment we're at peace, there's no problem.
If we were to find ourselves in a crisis...
it would be another story.
- Okay.
All right. Where am I allowed to stand?
- Alright, look down. Right here. You're going to be all safe.
- Yep.
- The jets are going to come from that side.
Going to take off here. Back here, you're safe.
- [exhales, laughs]
I mean you fly them, so...!
- I do!
[crossing warning beeps]
When we're ready for takeoff
the air traffic controllers close the barriers.
They themselves have a look if they see anything suspicious.
And then whenever the barriers get closed,
there's guys from the military police
on both sides of the barriers.
Also, there's the runway controller
who observes every takeoff and every landing.
He could step in as well.
So we as pilots, we can't do much ourselves.
- There are a few other runways in the world
with roads across them, but they're all
very small and very remote.
In Sumburgh, on the island of Shetland, in the far north of the UK
there is a commercial airport with a similar setup
across one of its two runways,. But that is very remote.
It used to be that the only road in and out of Gibraltar
went right across a massive airport runway.
One that took full size passenger jets.
But there is finally a new tunnel there now
after years of delays.
So cars and trucks no longer go that way.
So this runway here in Switzerland would be just
a little side note, if it wasn't
for the tourist industry that sprung up around it.
If you're the sort of aviation or military nerd
that wants to see fighter jets up close and personal
this is probably on your list of places to visit.
And if you didn't know about it before this video,
it probably is now.
There's a very nice restaurant just off the base.
One of the hangers is open to the public occasionally
and there's a massive military air show every October.
This place is good PR for the Swiss Air Force.
- If ever there should be anyone between the barriers
when we are coming back to land,
we would be ordered to go-around.
So we would abort our approach, climb again and
do a second approach whenever the issue has been resolved.
When we take off, it's basically the other way around.
We taxi it towards the runway and once we report ready
to the air traffic controller, they close the barriers
and they give us our clearance to to take off
once everything is settled
- It's not like there are any statistics to compare
but that crossing is probably more safe
than most railroad crossings.
Although to be fair, the rail industry is trying to get rid
as many of those as they can, because they are an
unnecessary safety risk. [loud jet engine, increasing]
[jet engine roaring]
I cannot explain how loud that was.
I've got full ear-defender earplugs in.
I think it might have broken my microphone.
Wow. We had one take to get that.
I hope I didn't fluff my lines. [laughing]