Two almost always tricky parts to flying are landing and taking off. This because planes operate at different speeds when in the atmosphere versus when on the runway. For some airports though, this hurdle is just the beginning given their locations (e.g. in mountainous areas) or their sizes among other factors hence making them rather difficult to navigate.
In this article, we will explore the top ten of these, their locations, the specific complications associated with each etc. It can get a little scary but don’t worry, pilots have been rising to the game as I describe.
1. Paro International Airport
This airport is considered to be the most dangerous in the world. At the same time, it is there that majority of Bhutan’s air transport activity happens as it is the country’s only international airport.
The main factor for appearance on this list is the fact that it is positioned at 7,364 ft. above sea level. Mark you, its immediate surrounding is made up of ranges that go as far as 18,000 ft. above sea level.
This means that when the plane starts to approach the airport, the person flying it begins to swirl it around the mountains. At the same time, the process of doing so obstructs them from visibly seeing the runway until moments before executing the landing.
Knowing this combination of things, the airport operators have devised the most stringent of procedures including the fact that only less than thirty pilots world over are allowed to fly there or out and the fact that you can only land at Paro during the day.
This response has proven to be effective as no accidents have been reported there by Aviation Safety Network (ASN) thus far.
2. Barra International Airport
The airport takes its name from an Island in Scotland. If you were picturing water already, then add to that the fact that the airport’s runways are literally located on a beach– a fact that is unique to it globally. So much so is this the case that during high tide, they all get submerged. This means that if that happens while you are at the airport, then you would be in hard luck.
Additionally, the airport has no refueling services. As such, passengers have to always count on the fact that the planes carried enough fuel with them for the return journeys. Even in the best case of these scenarios however, passenger capacity is limited below the carriers’ full abilities (precisely to save fuel).
Be as it is, the administrators at Barra have maintained high requirements for operations not only as regards to flying but all associated activity e.g. weather forecasting and in return, the safety there has been remarkable.
3. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport
Located on Saba, the airport is understood to have the shortest runway anywhere i.e. 1,300 ft. This quarter the length of usual runways. On top of this, on either side of the runway are cliffs dropping off in the Caribbean sea which means falling into the sea if any mistakes are made.
What are the odds that errors will not occur you will ask? Good question. And knowing it, those on whom the responsibility falls to manage Juancho E. Yrausquin have made sure that a very limited number of pilots are allowed to fly there and prior to approval, one has to be specially certified.
Another adaptation has been to limit the kind of aero planes that land at the airport. Anything that carries more than twenty passengers is not allowed.
Indeed ASN has reported no accidents at the location thanks to these.
4. Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport
This airport is located in India. On top of being dangerous, it is also one of those that are located at very high altitudes. 10,682 ft. above sea level to be specific. And it is owing to this factor that it appears on this list.
How it plays out is that there is very thin wind in its near atmosphere thereby requiring key modifications in both the taking off as well as the landing.
In the afternoons, things flip such that strong winds regularly blow at the airport thereby producing unprecedented levels of turbulence. In response, authorities have restricted flying in and out to the morning hours. This in part explains why there have been no reported accidents at Kushok Bakula since 1979 per ASN.
But that is not all, the airport is located in the Himalayas which means that there are mountain ranges all over the place and that pilots have to carefully stick with the valley parts of area.
In order to correct for this issue you cannot be allowed in the cockpit of a plane coming to this airport unless you have been certified in high altitude flying.
5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport
This facility was constructed in 1964 under the supervision of Sir Edmund Hillary and just like with Kushok Bakula Rimpochee airport, a big issue with it is the high altitude. It sits at approximately 9,383 ft. above sea level.
If you are wondering why that is the case, it is because for all intents and purposes, it serves as the gateway to the world’s highest mountain– Everest.
Again, heights mean that there is low air density and in return require that planes approach the port at a speed that is higher than those that land on regular airports land at. To mitigate the limitations of this dynamic, a 12 degrees slope was attached to the end of the runway so as to encourage faster deceleration. It ends into a mountain wall though so pilots have to be extra cautious.
But we are not done yet because that is one part of the problem. The other is that the runway is extremely short. We are talking 1,729 ft. For context, regular commercial airports have runways going 5,500 ft. on average. This constraint has meant that only small fixed-wing propeller planes and helicopters are allowed at this airport.
Unfortunately, the measures adopted have still failed to prevent several accidents including ones that cost human lives and grave injuries.
6. Kansai International Airport
Kasai was constructed in 1994 and became a phenomenon almost instantly because once operations began, it became Japan’s first 24-hour airport. Further, it was raised on an artificial island so a marvel of technology indeed.
The airport seems to be slowly being eaten up by its past glory in recent years however. From the time of its inception, 40 ft. of its composition has in fact sunk. This process has destabilized the initial architecture as imagined there requiring continued restructuring as well as maintenance through say, pumping water out in a bid to avoid flooding.
These efforts are made worse by the fact that the region in which it is stationed is prone to earth quakes and typhoons which on their own are a headache to infrastructure.
Kansai international airport is also vulnerable to rampant change in wind direction which can be a pain especially if you were already in the air by the time the forecasting changed.
7. Princess Juliana International Airport
The airport is located on the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean. The factor that makes it especially dangerous is that one end of its runway is very close to a place where many people frequent for leisure– Maho beach. This forces planes flying in to make entries at very low heights which creates possibilities of someone down doing something crazy e.g. throw a stone.
As for the takeoff, planes tend to create loads of wind which in turn cause the sands below to stir up in ways that can injure the folks at the beach. In 2017, a New Zealander lost her life in this way.
Bonus Most Dangerous Airports in the World
- Helena Airport: if you know your European history well, then the name should ring a bell. The airport is located in the place where Napoleon Bonaparte spent the last days of his life. The airport had not opened yet though. It was only constructed a little over a decade ago.
- Toncontin International Airport: the gravity of the danger at this airport first appeared on the world stage when an Airbus A320 crashed there in 2008 costing many lives. Ever since, several protocols have been put in place to help improve things.
- Courchevel Airport: serving a prestigious French resort, this is another airport to which you cannot fly without obtaining specific certification.
I’m an aeronautical engineer (B1.1 License), a fan of travel, technology, and entrepreneurship. I’m also interested in writing and programming.