Only Eight Pilots Are Qualified to Land on This ‘Terrifying’ Runway
- Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:05am by
Liz Klimas
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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’.
Here’s a view from the cockpit of the landing:
Check out this outsider’s view of a plane landing in Paro:
Up until July, the Daily Mail reports, Druk Air was the only airline flying into the airport, which Boeing has said is “one of the world’s most difficult for takeoffs and landings.” Buddha Air also serves the facility, which takes in about 30,000 people each year.
In 2009, the airport was named by Travel Leisure the number 1 most dangerous airport in the world. Also making the list were the International Airport of Princess Juliana, St.Martin, Reagan National Airport, Washington DC, and Airport of Gibraltar.
[H/T Business Insider]
This story has been updated to correct a typo.
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Comments (160)
the bamster
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:15amAlways thought this airport in Honduras is the worst.
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw4PHhLBbrU
” An American Airlines Boeing 757 Lands in Honduras. The runway is super short and there is no direct approach path. The pilot has to come in at a 90 degree angle and at the last minute turn the aircraft into the runway plus there is a crosswind just to make it exciting…..”
neidermeyer
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:14pmI’ve never flown the checkerboard (it’s gone now) but the thought of aiming a 747 at a mountain and cranking it 90 degrees at DH on the slope sounds like a blast.. http://www.flightsoft.com/images/HONG%20KONG%20WONDERFUL%2012.jpg
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:35pmFighter Pilots… you gotta be Crazy!
Report Post »captain_errol
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:53pmI agree with you.
Report Post »cyclops
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:54pmHere is one for you. I’ve flown on KLM to this airport many times and what a cool sight to behold during thick cloudy days or nights……..LOL!!!!
http://youtu.be/F8K3eG47Y0A
Report Post »The BRAIN
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 1:31pmYour airport is Toncontin, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. AA has special training requirements for that one also. You have to follow right down the mountain to land and you require every inch of runway you can get in order to get stopped. Lots of good video. Search youtube for tegucigalpa airport landing.
Report Post »In typically ratty midwest weather combined with Lake (Michigan) effect snow, Chicago Midway is as hairy as any of them.
corbecket
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 2:08pmYeah, there are plenty of challenging airports in the world. Saying this is the worst just reminds me of “the game/trial/play of the century” that you hear about every week or two. This is just another one of them. On a clear day, in good conditions, it’s fun. Even Reno, Nevada can be a big problem. Mix in some weather, wind, reductions in visibility, an engine failure on takeoff…..you think things through a bit more, and things can become…..complicated. There are potential goblins jumping up that passengers are never aware of. Better that they don’t.
Paranoia is your friend in the cockpit. Good airports can get you into trouble as quickly as bad ones if you aren’t thinking ahead of the problems.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 2:53pmAre they selling tickets at a premium for the aerobatic ride? LOL
As a pilot, I thought the runway at K20 (Wendell Ford Airport) in Hazard, KY was bad.
It used to have a 10 degree turn in the middle of the runway.
That bend is gone now. But, it was the only runway that I knew of that the runway numbers were not 180 degrees opposite! (9/27, 15/33, 6/24, etc.)
I love flying, but, I’m not sure I WANT to fly into there!
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 3:27pmI was thinking of the airport in Tegucigalpa as well. I used to live there. It’s like landing in the botttom of a teacup. The passengers really mean it when they clap after landing.
Report Post »scheduler
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 4:31pmLooks like for a good reason.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »Hickory
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:09amSome guys that fly Air America could contest this claim but…… cannot. Had some hairy rides with those guys.
Report Post »hud
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:38amPretty much like fling fixed wing in the Nam.A veteran C130 pilot would take this approach straight down and pull out at the last instant. Been there done that.
Report Post »Jumper
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:52amI’m with ya buddy. I never rode with Air America, but I’ve seen and been on C-130′s that the pilots make do things you would only think a fighter jet or radio controlled plane could do. I’ve also seen(form inside and outside the bird) some pilots for Xe, formerly Blackwater do some pretty darn amazing things with the planes they’re flying. Most of those guys are former Air Force, but still. I gotta tell ya, our Air Force, including the Air National Guard, has some absolutely phenomenal pilots.
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:20pmDid anyone say C-130s? The first four years of my 21-year career in the Air Force (’84-’88) were spent at Little Rock AFB — a C-130 training base; I know ALL about the white-knuckle rides a C-130 is capable of delivering. So as terrifying as this airport is purported to be, I suppose we who chalked up time in the C-130 could hack it without too much trouble.
Report Post »SFYMP
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:55pmHerky birds have to be one of the best aircraft…Ever. When you said ”the white knuckle ride that it delivered” gave me such a flashback from 40+ years ago. Thank You.
Report Post »TexAgConservative
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 2:17pmC130 or C123 or C7 would land there with no problem. All you need is max 3,000 foot runway for the C130, less for the other two.
Report Post »Nvrat
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 8:12pmI have to agree with the Hurcky birds guys. Never crewed a A model but the B was one awsum ride! At 98000 tho gross, with a little fire at the tail- take off in 800 ft, max reverse land in 1500. This took me back almost fifty years. Lockheed told us it was FAILSAFE and trouble free! Coming out of the old piston slappers I was convinced.
Report Post »Seede
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:05amSome of the comments here are not very sensible. What may look like an armchair operation is in all reality very treacherous. You don’t see the side whorls or down drafts in these short films but they are there and they cost many good pilots their lives. We had similar problems in the Azores in the forties and lost many good pilots with the same treacherous cross winds and down drafts. In fact some places are so bad that choppers can not be used even today.
Report Post »TheLeftMadeMeRight
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 6:32pmYou mean wing tip vortexes, wind shear, mountain rotor winds rolling off the peaks, stuff like that?
Making jokes about tragedy is actually a coping mechanism some use to relieve stress.
Report Post »Others are as you guessed just jerks.
TheLeftMadeMeRight
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:02amAh…no problem….. if your pilot is sober. Remeber the four steps to a bad landing;
stall, spin, crash, burn…
Report Post »BlackCrow
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:59amEver fly into Juneau Alaska? Now there isn’t the density altitude problem but there are BIG honking mountains at each end of the runway, fog and low visibility. Glideslope is awfully steep
Report Post »steveo427
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:27pmI hear ya, My first thought was “what about Kodiak AK?”
Report Post »Barometer Mt. at one end, lots of water at the other end… It’s a tradition to clap and cheer when you land safely.
HomeoftheBrave
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 1:09pmI have flown into both Juneau and Kodiak Alaska. Both can be terrifying if the conditions are just right. Once on a 727 had to circle twice before “Dropping in” at Kodiak once. In a 727 you only see water on both sides of the plane, no land, when taking off or landing. When you land in Juneau you join right in the clapping to be safely on the ground. But the scariest can be Valdez, AK when it is cloudy, foggy or snowing. The wind from the Mountain Passes suck you right down. They are all small planes and you know you are cheating death each time the conditions are rough. This is a wind up and shoot through the clouds landing. Alaska pilots Commercial, Bush, Air National Guard, Air Force are the Best in the World. But number UNO are the Coast Guard Pilots. A big Amen to those guys, I am always in awe of those heros!
Report Post »WWII history buff
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 2:08pmOnce – it made me want to fly Alaska Airlines exclusively
Report Post »katspaw50
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:18pmthere was a cute airport in ponce PUERTO RICO you took a little plane out of SAN JUAN . when it got to ponce you got over the mountain all of the sudden your heart was in your hands .you just hope the pilot remember where the brakes were very quickly like the second the plain touch down that is how long it was to the end of the runway down the other nice drop.
Report Post »FlatFoot
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:52amGood gawd the commenting feature of this website is THE SUCK.
Also, this story is news that is way old. Welcome to last century.
Report Post »Conservative_T-Rex
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:07amSounds like flatfoot should change his handle to tinyweiner.
Report Post »FlatFoot
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:35amSounds like Conservative_T-Rex should change his name to Pillowbiter_Lizard-Face.
Just sayin’.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 12:43pmNow now children, don’t make me be the adult here and have to separate you.
Report Post »Dosrios
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 1:56pmWhat’s your pilot certificate number, Flatfoot ?
Report Post »corsair18
Posted on December 31, 2011 at 4:33amGive Daddy back his “puter and go back to bed.
Report Post »The Sergeant Major
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:50amIt might be a short runway with a little altitude, but nobody is shooting at you. Ramadi, Baghdad and TQ
Report Post »HumbleMan
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:13amThe “airport”, if you want to call it that at Los Alamos, NM is far scarier than this. Of course it’s not handling big jets. When you take off from there you actually drop.
Still … like SM says, nobody’s shootin at ya.
Report Post »Jumper
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:53amDon’t forget FOB Ripley, FOB Salerno, etc., etc.
Report Post »machgun
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 3:48pmever taking one of those army planes from Mosul to Balad? You cant help but wonder if it is driven by a rubber band LMAO
Report Post »Cynic-clinic
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:34pmMy vote for the trickiest goes to Colorado’s Aspen-Pitkin, Sardy Field (KASE) for its 4 steps down starting from 14,000 feet on a VOR approach to a non-aligned runway. Get it right the first time because the missed is a bitch.
Report Post »GrandmaPatriot
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:46amNot impressed. My grandfather “flew the hump” in Burma during WW2. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1733.html
Report Post »corbecket
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 2:33pm@the monster
“So if the wind is coming out of the north or west, they use runway 15 The opposite end of the runway would say “33”, and would be used when the wind is blowing out of the south or east.”
Ahem.
Report Post »You might want to rethink your lecture on landing into the wind. I do not think you said, what you meant to say.
FreedomWitness
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:31amwhy don’t they just approach the runway from the other way, looks a lot easier.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:38amSorry, but I just got back from Eagle/Vail, CO last night, and off the top of my head, I can think of several airports just in Colorado that are comparable to this one.
Report Post »The Monster
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:47amAirplanes always take off and land into the wind if possible, which maximizes airspeed compared to ground speed. This runway is labeled “15”, indicating it’s at a bearing between 145 and 154.9 degrees from North, or SSE. So if the wind is coming out of the north or west, they use runway 15 The opposite end of the runway would say “33”, and would be used when the wind is blowing out of the south or east. If the wind is generally from the WSW or ENE, you can go either direction.
And taking off from 33 with the need to immediately turn right has to be a ton of fun.
Report Post »rpp
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:50amHigh mountains on the far side of the runway with no valley to turn into leaves no safety margin. So this is a one-way airport. Landing in one direction only, take-off in the opposite direction only. I have fpown into a few airports like that and they can be challenging when the winds are not favorable.
Report Post »Xyskalla
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:51amIt depends on the direction the wind is blowing. They need to land and take off into the wind.
Report Post »dcart888
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:54amTry Juneau International Airport if you are not careful last turn before runway you go directly into a mountain. Beautiful scenery as well enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TVJx4CxwW8
Report Post »flutepilot
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 2:20pm“Xyskalla
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:51am
It depends on the direction the wind is blowing. They need to land and take off into the wind.”
Yes, this is normally true, but there are some where this is not possible. Kodiak, AK is one, as there is a mountain at one end. You land toward the mountain and take off away from it. There is on in VA which I once flew into which is the same way, and the approach has houses right off your wing tip as you curve down a valley. Washington National is also a real trip, because of the restricted airspace if you are approaching from the North. You make a hard right turn and immediately flare as you roll out. Lotsa fun.
Report Post »Cynic-clinic
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:57pmHey TEXp: I fully agree with Colorado airports and Eagle (KEGE) is my choice for #2. I posted about Aspen-Pitkin about 10:34 tonight which is my first choice. My last choice is 10kand 2 in blowing snow.
Report Post »katspaw50
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 5:31pmi landed in BENHOA in 68 it was the first time i got a good view of a fighter jet one on each side i wonder what was going on it did not take long to find out that night. LUIS 1st.infantry
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:18amCheck out the Airport in Telluride Colorado.
Report Post »One end of the runway has a shear cliff that drops several hundred feet with a mountain rising up the other side.
The other end has a little more room, a gentler canyon and the mountain is 3 hail mary’s in front of you instead of one.
avgconservative
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:59am@Liz Klimas strikes again: “picaresque” ??? The definition of picaresque is a literary genre of a rogue hero.
Lizzie… go back to 3rd grade… really.
http://FlipTheLib.com
Report Post »MYHEROISRON
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:09am… St. Marteen is a bowel emptier …
Report Post »zman173rd
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:25amOMG are you crazy?!?! To criticize the omnipotent and Almighty Blaze is blasphemy! I did it in another article and was chastised and (according to one) “OWNED! It’s like mothers protecting their young. Ever have someone come to visit with their dog and it pees on your floor? The same kind of defense reaction with some of these retards. “Ah, pookie make a puddle, it’s a natural thing to do. Poor Pookie, he’s just a puppy.”
Report Post »mikedy
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:25amShe wrote “picturesque” in the story I read.
Report Post »zman173rd
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:40am@ mikedy “She wrote “picturesque” in the story I read.” Yup . They sometimes use us to edit their mistakes. Did that in acouple of others. Never an apology, just look the other way.
To the Blaze: Other stories worth covering at other sites such as Drudge and Brietbart:
Report Post »Obama mulls transfer of prisoner to Afghanistan
Iowa’s evangelicals move toward Santorum
Iran films US carrier near straight of Hormuz
China push to put astronaut on moon
Des Moines police arrest 12 “Occupy” protesters
Girl Scouts to remove Media Matters Endorsement
just to name a very few
gonetotheright
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:51amFinally a relocation site for all of America’s Progessives, Socialist, and Communist. So What, if there are a few planes crashes during the relocation missions!
Report Post »Ray2447
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:07amThis one (Namche Bazaar airport) is a real thrill too.
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdGipkHQmBs
Also, high up in the Himalayan range.
Temporal
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:47amSlow news day at the Blaze? I flew airliners for 20+ years. There’s lots of airports that could (and should) be put into the “dangerous” category for a whole host of reasons.
Washington Reagan (DCA) is on that list because of the River Visual 19 approach which violates many of the FAA’s own safety criteria, but they break their own rules in “approving” it because there’s few other choices due to the highly restricted airspace just to the north.
New York’s LaGuardia (LGA) Express Way Visual 31 also ranks up there to as it requires the airline pilots to perform what amounts to a swan dive with 50 tons of airplane.
If a student pilot did the same thing at your local airport on an FAA check ride– they’d fail!
But again, the FAA designs such procedures in violation of their own guidelines because there‘s so little airspace to work with due to JFK’s close proximity 5 miles to the SE.
And then there’s Chicago Midway (MDW) with its short icy runways, Wilkes Barr, PA (AVP) that sits on a mountain top with steep drops off all the runways, Vail CO, ….
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:33amWhen I kayak the Potomac , sometimes I sit at the end of 19 having lunch and a beer. the planes coming up the river pass about 200 Ft above and they come one after another. . Pretty cool.
Report Post »CPT_GCF
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:46amThis is a normal landing for a Mission Aviation Fellowship pilot! My brother was taught by the best and flies in the jungles of Borneo to bring the Gospel to unreached people!
Report Post »mrsalvage2
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:27amWow, the Hospital at San Raphael Haiti sure could use a Pilot with a Helio Courrier.
Few trees, little flat ground
Report Post »Shotgun_Melee
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:37ampicaresque?
picaresque???
PICARESQUE?!?!?
Heaven help us.
Report Post »gramma b
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:58amI know. Sometimes I blanch at the mistakes on the Blaze.
Report Post »Inlightofthings
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:00amSharpton wrote it.
I will say, the type-o’s do drive me a bit batty as well.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:51amResist we much.
Send in the Corpsmen.
Report Post »kimba01
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:35amYGTBSM ! This is child’s play…try a night approach in bad weather with a pitching deck to a carrier landing. That’ll increase your heart rate..!
Report Post »booger71
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:40amAmen
Report Post »txwheels
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:49amNot only your heart rate, it’ll bring you pucker factor to 13 on a scale of 10..
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:34amAhhh…those picaresque surroundings…..
Report Post »TROONORTH
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:30amWhat’s that funny smell?
Report Post »anotherproudamerican
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:27amTry Lukla airport if you want a rush!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF9bNI0kp4k
Report Post »Phantom II
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 5:13pm@ Proud American. A runway like this makes sense to me. A short steep incline at the top of a cliff and let gravity do all the work. Looks pretty safe to me. I would just do a quick buzz at the threshold to check updrafts and go for it. You would land in a climb at Vy and no flair and no brakes. Id like to try it in my Baron. It would actually save wear and tare. Imagine rotating pitch down at take off at cliff edge. Sounds like a blast.
Report Post »Beats SAMs coming after you.
dcart888
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:20amThis is nothing! Alaska bush pilots with STOL planes do much more difficult landings on mountain sides. Bush pilots take extra landing gear as they actually crash land on mountain sides pointing downward. While hunters flown in hunt the pilot has the extra parts to fix the plane’s landing gear if damaged during the landing. When hunters return the plane is pointed downward and the pilot takes off.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:28amI agree. This is nothing. Slow news day.
Report Post »demint.disciple
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:31amAgreed , I see nothing hard about this the only thing ( I bet) hard would be at night time but other than that uummm, they didn’t come close to clipping the roof tops as was stated. Also, it looked like there was PLENTY of landing strip, the plane landed and there were over a couple 1000 feet left of the strip. As usual, the blaze makes a story up out of thin air..
Report Post »hogman1776
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:35ammaybe I didnt watch the same video that you did. a bush plane has a prop and is made for very short landings & takeoffs. these are JETS and require much more landind room. bush or any small prop planes are much more agile than a jet. just sayin’
Report Post »Evil_Conservative
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:03am@Ruler4You
indeed. at least for the Blaze. Drudge is where it is at.
Report Post »ConservativeDad
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:17amThat’s not too bad, but I’m sure the crosswinds might make it tougher. The reason why maybe only 8 pilots can fly into the airport is because so few people need to go there. It doesn’t look like a major metro area by any western definition.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:15amOnly eight? I bet that any carrier jock could land there sitting backwards, night or day.
Report Post »mficentral
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:34amLove your “icon”. Movie favorite with my family. “Dad” is my husband. Sorry to break the thread.
Report Post »RRFlyer
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 6:36pmYet any helicopter pilot can land there
Report Post »ZeroOff4impact
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:15amPiece of cake.
Report Post »dcart888
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 10:30amHogmann1776
Report Post »Yes there is a big difference between a Super Cub STOL and the plane in video. The lighter Super Cub can be thrown around more with the up and down drafts around mountains in AK. There is a saying in Alaska: There are old pilots, bold pilots but NO OLD BOLD Pilots. So you have to know the area and have respect for the weather which is arctic. There are plenty of runways that are tricky. The one in and out of Juneau AK is similar as the one in and out of Singapore here’s some more http://www.virginmedia.com/travel/destinations/features/scariest-airport-landing-strips.php?ssid=11
SamIamTwo
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:14amAutoland anyone?
In his 1959 paper John Charnley, then Superintendent of the UK Royal Aircraft Establishment’s Blind Landing Experimental Unit (BLEU), concluded a discussion of statistical results by saying that “It is fair to claim, therefore, that not only will the automatic system land the aircraft when the weather prevents the human pilot, it also performs the operation much more precisely”. From Wiki
But it has it’s limitations.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:09amDo the natives worship the great metal bird?
Report Post »holy ghostbuster
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:16amIf they do, then you have to give them credit for believing in something real.
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on December 30, 2011 at 9:22amThey built bamboo replicas to call for the mighty birds return.
Report Post »