Tegucigalpa in Honduras was definitive "my top favourite": coming in between mountains, a final approach skimming just a few meters above a small hill, just before diving onto a runway which seems almost tucked away in a valley. Each time, it amazed me we could actually pull the brakes in time, without tumbling off the end of the runway... It surely seemed to take all of the pilot's skills. Have a look again at the video on this post, and you will understand...
Today Tegucigalpa airport seemed to have proven its sad reputation as "one of the world's most dangerous landing strips" as a TACA flight overshot the runway.(Full)
Landing at Rome's Fiumicino airport tonight, I wondered how on earth pilots succeed in landing a plane if their top technology does not even allow them to keep the lights from flickering on and off in the passenger area. I thought about my last weekend's post on the near-crash at Hamburg's airport (picture above). That post spurred quite some reactions from frequent travellers.
Well, if you are in fear of flying, don't visit Top 10 Most Dangerous Aircraft Landings in the World. This site describes and shows videos from the world's most dangerous air strips, listed as: Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong Funchal Airport, Madeira (*) Gustaf III Airport, St. Barts (*) Courchevel Airport, France Princess Juliana International Airport, Saint Maarten (*) Wellington International Airport, New Zealand Paro Airport, Bhutan (*) Narsarsuaq Airport, Greenland Saba Island Airport, Netherlands Antilles (*) Lugano Airport, Switzerland (*)
Those indicated with (*) I have seen or landed at.
I would definitively add Tegucigalpa airport to this list:
I landed there at least ten times in three weeks, during the Hurricane Mitch emergency. I remember each time we approached, it seemed like we barely missed the top of the trees right before the final drop to the strip. Except for one time where it was raining that hard, we could not see a thing.
Talking about scary: try Kathmandu airport in a thunderstorm. On a PIA flight!
Or, now that we are talking about Nepal: how about Lukla? I remember so many passengers got sick on that flight, the vomit was running under the seats from the front to the back. Check out this video, and you will see why. A pity you can not feel the turbulence!
It amazes me not more accidents happen. And at the same time, I have the more admiration for the pilots.
PS: Oh, almost forgot to mention Mwanza airport in Tanzania. During an approach in 1996, I saw a sign "Beware of potholes on the landing strip". It was only AFTER landing I noticed all the wrecks besides the strip. I did not see those while landing, as I had my eyes closed. :-)
Update: Sometimes it looks like some of the things I write about become reality. Within months after writing this post, a plane crashed in Tegucigalpa, and one crashed at Lukla airport.
Peter. Flemish, European, aid worker, expeditioner, sailor, traveller, husband, father, friend, nutcase. Not necessarily in that order.
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