World’s Scariest Landing Strips

Are these the world’s scariest landing strips? The airport approaches so terrifying even pilots will think twice

• By Qin Xie For Mailonline, www.dailymail.co.uk
• December 10th, 2015

Heading to a remote paradise seems like a dream holiday but you might change your mind after seeing the airports at some of the world’s most idyllic locations.

On small islands and coastal areas, the runway can feel like it's flowing straight into the sea - especially when there just isn't enough land to build a long runway. But even inland, the landing strip can prove to be hazardous if the approach is built precariously close to populated areas, mountain sides and even cliff faces. 

Geology aside, some airports are built precariously close to populated areas while others have runways that are cut off by obstacles such as train lines. A few airports have notoriously difficult approached but when the pilots start complaining about these landing strips, you know you should really be worried. 

Here is a round up of some of the scariest (and most exhilarating) landing strips across the world.

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Planes were grounded at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, after flooding in the country in 2011 but on sunny days, the pilots have to contend with a golf course right next to the tarmac

It's not hard to confuse the runway with the ski slope at Courchevel Altiport in France, where the landing strip is extremely short and follows the lines of the mountainside, not to mention it's covered in snow during the ski season. You only land going uphill and you can only takeoff going downhill. Luckily for most, the airport is open to private planes only

Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Nepal is also known as Lukla Airport. It's perched on a mountain ridge and is one of the world's most dangerous, with a drop of 9,200ft awaiting planes at the end of the runaway

Island landings  

Agatti Aerodrome Photo by: pictured

Meck Island is one of the many airports in the Marshall Islands that's cited to be particularly difficult to fly into. As well as being hard to spot - it blends into the narrow strip of island, it also dives straight into the sea

Kwajelien Airport, another of the Marshall Islands Airport, is similarly difficult to navigate since it too flows straight into the ocean

Several of the airports on the Marshall Islands in the North Pacific are cited by users of Airline Pilot Forum as having some of the 'craziest' landings.

In particular, the list included Meck Island and Kwajalein Island where the landing strip runs almost sea to sea, taking up the entire island.

Nearby, Wake Island is cited for having a similarly hazardous landing strip for the same reason.

It's a plight shared by numerous island airports in different parts of the world, like those in the Maldives and the Caribbean, where space is a premium.

In most cases, the landing strip has to be used for taxiing as well, allowing the planes to travel to their parking spots once they land.

Luckily, these tiny airports generally support small populations, which means that there are few daily flights to contend with.

The parallel approach

Funchal Airport on the island of Madeira is one of the airports where pilots need additional training to be permitted to fly. It runs parallel to the mountains and suffers from strong and unpredictable winds

Although an island airport, Nauru International Airport is situated in a parallel position in relation to the land and connects to the sea on either end

Dutch Harbour Airport in Alaska is flanked by land on both sides. In winter, the runway can also be frozen and get covered with a thick blanket of snow

Coastal regions can throw up another problem - mountains.

At airports such as Funchal in Madeira, the landing strips are built parallel to the mountains, which is incidentally how the plane must be flown before it makes a landing.

While the precise positioning for the approach is difficult enough - everything is done by eye rather than with the help of navigation instruments - the airport also has to contend with strong winds from the Atlantic ocean.

It's one of the airports where pilots need additional training to be permitted to land a plane.

Similarly, at Dutch Harbour in Alaska, the coastal approach is flanked by land on both sides before leading back into the sea.

As well as navigating around the land formations, pilots also have to cope with freezing temperatures and heavy snow fall for several months of the year.

Into the mountains 

Is that a landing strip or a part of the mountain range? Ranger Creek Airport in Washington doesn't make things easy for pilots but it's even harder to position the plane into the valley between the peaks to land

Ingalls Field Airport in Hot Springs, Virginia, is the highest airport in the area. It's perched at the top of a mountain range and is strongly effected by crosswinds 

Teniente Coronel Hernán Acosta Mejía Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is flanked by mountains, which makes positioning the approach difficult. The close proximity of populated areas also give it little leeway

Inland, mountains can prove to be particularly troublesome.

When the runway is at the top of a peak, like at Ingalls Field Airport in Hot Springs, Virginia, there is nothing to protect the plane from crosswinds.

In some cases, sharp downward wind can push the plane down faster than the pilot intends to go.

But if the runway is sandwiched between mountain peaks, like at Ranger Creek Airport in Greenwater, Washington, it could be difficult to position the plane while in the air for the downward approach.

The mountains could limit the runway itself as well.

A plane crashed at Teniente Coronel Hernán Acosta Mejía Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in 2008 because it landed too late and over shot the runway.

Landing hazards 

Manakara Airport in Madagascar Photo by: above

Planes landing at Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten fly directly over a popular tourist beach. Sometimes, the planes appear to be close enough to touch 

Gustaf III Airport in St Barts is another airport where the runway is scarily close to its popular beaches. However, it's the short runway that requires pilots to take special training 

Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, has a golf course right next to its planes Photo by: pictured

It seems obvious that airports need plenty of room for planes to manoeuvre but some have an unusual number of hazards in their proximity.

Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten and Gustaf III Airport in Saint Barthélemy are notoriously close to tourist beaches. When a plane flies overhead, they often seem close enough to touch.

Similarly, Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, is close enough to a golf course that golfers can simply walk straight off the green and onto the tarmac.

At Manakara Airport in Madagascar and Gisborne Airport in New Zealand, the runway is intercepted by a railway line.

It's one case where you definitely don't want to get the schedule wrong.

Planes flying into Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong will have to descend near skyscrapers as well as mountains. It was once one of the busiest airports in the world before it closed in 1998