[wildbill]

Here’s the most harrowing airport I ever landed at.

Yeager Airport, renamed in 1985 to honor Brigadier General Charles “Chuck” Yeager, is located outside of Charleston, W. Va. along the Elk River. Given the area’s mountainous terrain, 9,000,000 cubic yards of earth and rock from over 360 mountain acres had to be cleared and graded to make way for the airport when it was constructed in the 1940s.

I was going in on a regional airline back in the 60s. Looking out the window, I saw we were headed directly head-on in to a cliff. At the last moment, the plane popped up (probably due to an updraft along the cliff face) and landed on the end of the runway. I took a train out of there.

[Grammy]

I have flown in to the two in this country and have a friend who has flown into Bhutan. When he got home he told us it was pretty scary landing there.

It has probably changed by now, but I remember 40 years ago being pretty impressed with the mountains surrounding the Rio de Janeiro airport. It was pretty steep coming and going.

[Erasmus]

Another diverting factoid about the Gibraltar strip: The only road from Spain into Gibraltar crosses it in the middle.

[texas booster]

Great thread.

[Quix]

San Diego’s can be cute, too.

[JoJo Gunn]

ping

[doorgunner69]

Too bad Wake Island is no longer active. Blow the approach or takeoff and you are swimming. Had to be heavily loaded on takeoff to make the next landfall: great fun to see the runway stop and water appear just as you lift off.............

[dhot]

It pales in comparison to Fane, PNG...

Landing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oB73Z767S8

Takeoff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhp0jbTpUGM

Shiver....

[stylecouncilor]

I’m surprised Hong Kong or Catalina Island didn’t make the list.

[Ladysmith]

Fascinating. The skills of pilots are incredible, not only on such challenging air strips but also with Mother Nature’s crosswinds... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tt4mW_we1c Bravo to each and every one of them.

[LukeL]

No Midway or Migs?(yes it is gone but still)

[anymouse]

Aviation ping

[anymouse]

Surprised they left off Avalon Airport on Catalina Island, CA. Built onto a chopped off mountain top with shear cliffs on each end of the rather short runway. Ok for small prop plane, but they allow Lear jets to land there and some don't quite make it to a stop fast enough.

Catalina Airport covers 25 acres and has one asphalt runway (4/22) measuring 3,000 x 60 feet (914 x 18 m). Surface elevation of the runway is 1602 feet (488 m) above sea level.[1] The runway is known for being pitched up in the middle, so that on short approach it appears much shorter. Pavement condition varies widely; after recent maintenance it is good, but following the rainy season there are often potholes, soft spots, and chunks of loose asphalt on the runway. Terrain falls off steeply at both ends of the runway. Due to turbulence and downdrafts at the approach ends, lack of normal visual references on final approach, and the upslope of the first 1/3 of Runway 22 (which creates the illusion of being too high on final approach) the airport can be hazardous for inexperienced pilots. Aircraft at opposite ends of the runway cannot see each other. Contact with Unicom is required to obtain permission for landing.

Video of what it is like landing there

I've experienced landing here, and like the video shows, it looks like you making a carrier landing.

[Moonman62]

I was on a plane that had a hard landing at Reagan. All the oxygen masks came down, along with most of the ceiling panels down the center of the plane. It was very quiet as we all got off the plane.

A week later the same flight blew all its tires on landing and closed the airport for a few hours.

[antisocial]

I guess he’s never flown into Love Field in Dallas!

[deuteronlmy232]

Who Flies There: All major U.S. airlines.

Why It’s Harrowing: Flying around Washington, D.C., is fraught with peril—just ask the pilot of a small aircraft that drifted into restricted airspace in March 2008, causing Congress to be evacuated and military planes to be scrambled. Located smack in the center of two overlapping air-exclusion zones, Reagan National requires pilots flying the so-called River Visual into the airport to follow the Potomac while steering clear of sensitive sites such as the Pentagon and CIA headquarters before making a steep turn and landing on this natural peninsula. Taking off, too, is a white-knuckle event in which pilots are required to climb quickly and execute a steep left bank to avoid flying over the White House.

Neal, it is Washington, what else would you expect?

[CodeToad]

Roi-Namur: