Posted on 12/31/2011 7:27:28 AM PST by KeyLargo
Only Eight Pilots Are Qualified to Land on This ‘Terrifying’ Runway
There is a small airport in the Himalayan mountains with a 6,500-foot runway and picturesque surroundings. When flying into Paro Airport in Bhutan passengers may be staring in terrified awe of the 18,000-foot mountainous peaks or have their eyes squeezed tightly shut as the pilot weaves through the range.
But only eight pilots are qualified to fly into Paro. And up until earlier this year, only one airline serviced the airport. The Daily Mail reports that take off and landing can only take place in daylight hours:
The runway is just 6,500 feet long – one of the few in the world shorter than their elevation above sea level.
Planes have to weave through the dozens of houses that are scattered across the mountainside – coming within feet of clipping the roofs.
Strong winds whip through the valleys, often resulting in severe turbulence. Passengers who have been on flights to the airport have described the landing as ‘terrifying’.
LOL It’s that exposed backbone after crashing that most worry about!
Mark
Loved those videos, brought back some fun times both on the beach and in the air.
:)
Maybe this is the airport I was thinking of...
Mark
This ones a You Tube Classic
747 landing at St. Maarten in the Caribbean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAfQwDizpRo
Try landing at 2RR, River Ranch, Florida.
Just past the threshold is a pack of about 25 turkeys.
Gun the RV6A and go a little further down the runway.
400 pound wild hog on the funway.
Gas er a little and still more turkeys.
Ok, so about the last 800 feet I safely set er down
Rent a golf cart and go to the skeet range.
Look out!
Flew to San Diego a couple of times. scary, but watching them take off was quite an experience also. You’d swear they were going to crash into some office building...
“Whew!!! That’s the shortest runway I’ve ever landed on” gasped the pilot
“It’s short all right, but it sure is wide” said his pale co pilot
Based on your description, might I suggest making that the last item on that list? :=)
Two scary landings in a C-123K Provider (assault transport) in Laos on the same day in 1970. From my journal:
Fri 20 Mar - Fly 4.3 (4 sorties). Operation Commando Pepper. From Udorn to landing zone and return, twice. Two different landing zones. No radio aids. A long day.
There was very bad visibility to the first landing zone [LS-117 New Xieng Dat, 19-26N 102-44E, 1300 x 90 feet of clay runway, land heading 060, takeoff heading 240], because it was the “smoky season” on the west side of the mountains. I had to put my head out the side window and look straight down to see enough to navigate. There was karst all over that area (limestone columns as much as 1000 feet high), but we were well above them — for the moment. When we were about five minutes away, I gave the pilots the heading and estimated time of arrival over the landing zone. It was a wide spot in a dirt road on the other side of a ridge, so the pilot, Capt. Larry Prose, couldn’t see it until we got there and he banked the aircraft to look down for it. He set up a close-in traffic pattern to keep the landing zone in sight, and then used “commando reverse” to get down quickly (reversed the pitch of the propellers in flight). We dropped like a rock. I didn’t know any airplane could do that, and it scared the heck out of me. We had been told we were going to pick up passengers, but no one was there, so Capt. Prose got on the radio. He was told we should offload the few boxes we brought with us (they looked like vehicle or aircraft parts) and someone would pick them up. Getting out of there was also challenging. We had to climb through smoke and haze between columns of karst, with two turning points, using headings and stop-watch timing.
There was fair visibility to the second landing zone [LS-15 Ban Na, 19-18N 102-57E, 1234 x 52 feet of sod/clay runway, land heading 350, takeoff heading 170], but the approach was over a high hill with a very steep descent into the valley and an uphill landing. As we were planning the mission, an Air America pilot said they wouldn’t try to land there in a C-123 and asked how we planned to do it. One of our pilots said we would take only half a load of fuel so the aircraft would be light enough to have a lower minimum airspeed, approach using full flaps at minimum airspeed, clear the top of the hill by 30 feet, drop the nose and chop the power, then pull up the nose and add power if necessary for the uphill landing. The Air America pilot said, “Well, that ought to work, but I wouldn’t want to try it.” Several of our pilots laughed and one said, “That’s why we get the big bucks!” (Air America pilots were paid a lot more than Air Force pilots.) The approach and landing were hairy, but we did it as planned. The crew chief and I were sent out on the flanks with M-16s to provide cover while onloading refugees. Then we did the downhill takeoff, followed by an immediate sharp right turn because the hill facing us was too high to climb over. All in all, it was a professional piece of flying.
People working on high floors can look down on the planes landing.
YIKES!!!
That was it, but it seems a whole lot shorter, faster and more brutal when you touch. The wings on my aircraft flexed and flapped like a birds.
Of course a proper STOL bush plane could land in the #1 parking spot on the ramp especially with the dirt berm at the edge.
I guess the other direction would be better lol
Yeah, you go right over the top of a parking garage.
I’m sure I musta missed it, but what is the elevation??
I’ve flown in many Twin Otters and landed at strips in the Andes at over 13,000 feet asl. But the Twin Otter is one of the finest aircraft ever made.
I love Astars...great bird. Spent a lot of time in them in the Yukon the last two summers. Great for chasing bears!
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