The modern word "airport" came to us from the ancient Greek language, and literally translates as "air harbor." Today it is a huge complex designed to send, receive and base aircraft. Many who are associated with aviation are well aware that during a flight the most dangerous moment is the period of take-off and landing of the aircraft. Many factors play into the safety of the air harbor, including difficult weather conditions and the location of the airport. We will take into account all the factors, and in our review we will consider the most dangerous airports in the world, located in different corners of our vast planet.
1
Kansai Airport. Osaka Japan
In the 60s of the last century, the authorities of the Japanese city of Osaka faced the following problem: an airport located in the city limits could not expand further due to the dense urban development.
Italian architect Renzo Piano has developed a project to build a new airport on an artificial island. In 1994, the airborne began sending and receiving aircraft.
But the problem with the ultramodern complex is that the island began to settle in the waters of the bay. The danger lies in the fact that passengers are simply afraid that the plane will fall into the sea.
2
Madeira Airport. Portugal
The problem of expansion also touched the air harbor, which now bears the name of the famous football player Cristiano Ronaldo, on the Portuguese island of Madeira.
The authors of the expansion project proposed to build a flyover, which will significantly increase the length of the runway. The danger is that there are rocks on one side of the elongated strip, and the open sea on the other.
It is the nearby mountains and the sea that introduce Madeira's air harbor to the TOP 10 most dangerous airports in the world.
3
Agatti India
Located on the island of the same name, Agati is the only air harbor on the archipelago off the west coast of India. It began to work in the late 80s of the twentieth century, and has only one runway.
The island is small, so takeoff and landing at its airport is an unforgettable sight, but at the same time not for the faint of heart. Probably the same feeling is experienced by pilots landing and taking off from an aircraft carrier.
In the future, authorities plan to expand the runway by building a flyover over the lagoon.
4
Gisborne. New Zealand
The list, which includes the most terrible airports in the world, continues with the airborne harbor of the New Zealand city of Gisborne. Big planes do not fly here, because the town is small and is not very popular with tourists.
But a small airport can rightfully be considered one of the most extreme air harbors in the world, because its existing runway crosses its runway. The difficulty for pilots is that the airport is located in the mountains.
Until 2001, the passenger train ran along the railway line, but today only freight trains move along it.
5
Juancho E. Yrausquin. Netherlands
On the Caribbean island of Saba, which is territorially owned by the Netherlands, there is an airport with the shortest runway. Its length of 396 meters introduces the air harbor into the list of extreme airports in the world.
Many experts note that the island airport ranks first in the world in terms of danger. It is not in vain that the pilots of only one airline have a license that allows them to fly here.
The edges of the runway end with a high cliff, and one wrong calculation, the wrong erroneous action of the pilot will cost the lives of all passengers of the airliner.
6
Tenzing and Hillary Airport. Nepal
The small airport in the city of Lukla, which is located in the eastern part of Nepal, is the highest mountain airport in the world, because its runway and buildings are built at an altitude of 2,860 m above sea level.
It is the mountainous area that makes it one of the most dangerous in the world, due to the complexity of take-off and landing. In addition, the runway has a slight slope, and is very short, only 527 m.
The weather in this part of Nepal is unpredictable, and the main passengers are climbers who arrive in Lukla and start climbing Mount Everest from it.
7
Paro Butane
High in the mountains of the Kingdom of Bhutan, near the town of Paro, there is an airport with an asphalt runway. Due to the complexity of the terrain, only a few pilots in the world have a license allowing the take-off and landing of aircraft in this extreme air harbor.
The fact is that the airport is surrounded by mountain peaks, and therefore pilots need to dramatically gain altitude during takeoff. The same difficulties arise during landing, when the main problem becomes to prevent the vessel from rolling out of the strip.
Those of the passengers who happened to use the services of the airport, note that the take-off delivers a lot of thrills.
8
Princess Juliana Airport. Island of san martin
The smallest inhabited island of the Caribbean archipelago is also famous for the fact that it has a large international airport, named after the Queen of Netherlands.
When landing, planes fly low over the beach. On the one hand, an exciting sight, but also dangerous at the same time. Thus, it is the most dangerous beach in the world. But thousands of tourists fly here to watch and capture the unique footage of landing huge airliners on the photo.
Despite the complexity of operation, in the entire history of the airport, only two accidents occurred.
9
Barra Scotland
A unique airport with a sandy runway operates in Europe, near the Scottish town of Western Isles.
This is the only airborne harbor in the world, built on the seashore, and has three sand runways. The danger is that the tides just cover the place of takeoff and landing.
Flights are prohibited at night, and for safety reasons the airfield is used only by aircraft with shortened take-off and landing characteristics.
10
Sochi Russia
The international airport of Russian Sochi is also included in the list of dangerous air harbors. Being in close proximity to the sea and mountain peaks, the airport falls into a zone of increased turbulence.
It is the geographical location that affects the frequent change of weather conditions, which is why pilots need to observe increased concentration and caution.
Most aircraft crashes in the immediate vicinity of Sochi are connected precisely with a fall into the sea or with the fact that the airliners crashed into a mountain.
11
Quito Mariscal Sucre. Ecuador
The main airport of Ecuador is located in the very center of the state capital - the city of Quito. A small area reserved for terminals and runways is surrounded by residential and administrative buildings.
It is this fact that makes it dangerous and difficult to operate. In addition, near the runways are the peaks of high volcanoes.
Landing and take-offs in such difficult conditions is allowed only to highly qualified pilots. Among the negative factors, it is worth noting the strong winds blowing in this part of the planet, which literally unfold liners when landing.
12
Narsarsuaq. Greenland
In a remote corner of our planet, the airport of the urban settlement of Narsarsurak has spread its runways. Around the picturesque landscapes of Greenland, but the area itself is famous for the difficult weather conditions.
It is the zone of increased turbulence that introduces Greenland's air harbor into the number of dangerous airports. Only highly qualified pilots work here, who are also well acquainted with this area.
Spread among the many fjords, the airport is a real cultural and historical attraction of the island.
Interesting If you remember, Greenland is the largest island on Earth, a complete list you can see in our article about the largest islands in the world.
13
Toncontin International Airport. Honduras
In 2008, an accident occurred in which 5 people died. The fact is that the plane left the strip and drove into the parking lot.
The Commission concluded that the cause of the accident was a runway that was too short, after which large aircraft were prohibited from landing in Honduras' air harbor.
Despite the ban, the harbor continues to be on the list of airports with difficult take-off and landing conditions, due to frequently changing weather conditions and the proximity of the sea.
14
Courchevel. France
We conclude our review with the airport of the most popular and beautiful resort in Europe, located in the French Alps.
Alpine airport, spread among the peaks at an altitude of 525 m above sea level, is considered one of the most dangerous. When designing, it was not possible to align the runway, and it has a slope of 18.5 degrees.
Naturally, the difficult terrain and other factors determined the fact that only highly qualified pilots who received a special license can fly here.
15
McMurdo (Antarctic Station)
If you are not a fan of cold, snow and ice, you may not like to fly to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. This place is called the "capital of the Antarctic," because it is the largest settlement on the continent. It is located in the zone of territorial claims of New Zealand, near the Rosa Glacier.
McMurdo has an airport called Pegasus Field, which can accept many types of aircraft. It was named after the crashed Constellation Lockheed C-121 aircraft named Pegasus, which crashed here in October 1970. Its wreckage is still nearby.
If you are planning to visit McMurdo, the good news is that the runway here is quite long. But the bad news is that it is completely made of ice. The weather here is very variable, and there are no alternate aerodromes nearby, so the planes have to land here without any alternative. And during the polar winter, pilots must use night vision goggles to properly land the plane.
16
Damascus. Syria
Not far from Damascus International Airport there are no dangerous mountains, tall buildings and unpredictable winds. However, a bloody civil war has been going on here for several years. The airport is located on the border of the zones of influence of the Syrian army, ISIS army and foreign rebel groups, which makes this area very dangerous. Nevertheless, daily flights are made to Moscow and Beirut.
Conclusion
Based on the data presented, it is difficult to determine the most dangerous airport in the world. But, as we see, various factors affect the safety of takeoffs and landings at the most extreme airports in the world. Mountain peaks, difficult weather conditions, the small length of the runway, its location near the sea, require maximum concentration and skill from the pilots, because when buying a ticket, passengers trust them with their lives.
Article author: Valery Skiba