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Maho Beach is located in St. Maarten, and famous for the Princess Juliana International Airport adjacent to the it. Arriving aircraft must touch down as close as possible to the beginning of Runway 10 resulting in aircraft flying over the beach at minimal altitude. (Marina113/Getty Images)
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To reach some of the world’s most beautiful and remote locations, tourists may have to deal with a few scary takeoffs and landings along the way. Many of the airports on this list got their frightening reputations because their runways sit at high elevation, are shockingly short ( in length) or made to adapt to their natural (but precarious) surroundings. See which white-knuckle, nail-biting airport approaches made the list.
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Maho Beach is famous for being literally steps away from the runway of Princess Juliana International Airport, with planes flying very low over tourists to touch down as close as possible to the beginning of Runway 10. Due to the short runway length (7,150 feet), planes on their final approach need to fly over the beach at minimal altitude, and regarding their perceived altitude when operating under visual flight rules because the approach to the runway is over water, according to the Daily Mail. And it gets even scarier. The departure is even more difficult than the approach, with a turn required to avoid mountains in the departure path. While being very close to planes landing and taking off can seem thrilling—and can make for a great selfie—there are signs on the beach warning tourists of the risk of jet blast. In 2017, .
Hechi Airport in China's southern Guangxi province cost around $136 million to complete and was , according to the Telegraph. Engineers leveled off the mountain tops to create a 1.4 mile-long and 150 foot-wide runway with a 1,000-foot sheer drop on one side. The runway is (the mainland's busiest airports handle 20 times that number on an hourly basis).
Pilots landing at Gibraltar International Airport, in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, need to not only worry about landing the plane safely on the airstrip, which has water on both sides, they also have to worry about car traffic. The 6,000-feet runway has the Mediterranean ocean on its eastern side and the Bay of Gibraltar on its western side. And as if that wasn’t enough for pilots, the airport is bisected by the tiny peninsula’s busiest road. According to the , only two airlines fly into Gibraltar: British Airways, easyJet and Monarch.
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Toncontin International Airport in Honduras has the terrifying airport trifecta – a short runway, mountainous terrain and wind gusts due to its high altitude. The airport’s notorious runway "02" is . The runway’s short length , according to the Centre for Aviation. The mountainous terrain also forces pilots approaching the runway to make a sharp turn in order to line up with the runway. While many pilots have managed the tricky approach, in May 2008 an . In May 2009 the airport received a runway extension.
At Barra International Airport on the Outer Hebridean Island of Barra in Scotland the runway is the beach. Airplane landings at the unique airport are dependent upon the tide – at high tide the runway is completely underwater. When the runways aren’t being used for landings, the bay of Traigh Mhor is often occupied by kite surfers and .
Congonhas Airport, unlike most airports, is located in a highly populated area near Sao Paulo, making takeoffs and landings challenging for pilots. Slippery runways have also troubled the airport. In 2007 a TAM Airlines Airbus A320 overran the runway after landing on the wet strip at Congonha. The airplane crossed into a roadway and crashed into a warehouse, . The airport implemented a new drain system for rainwater later that year and limited the weight of aircrafts flying into the airport.
Even the most experienced pilot may have trouble landing on this next runway located in the Portuguese island of Madeira. An international hub, the Madeira Airport, also called the Funchal Airport, was known for its extremely narrow runway, which required pilots to fly toward the mountains then quickly turn and descend in the final approach. It wasn’t until 1977 on its descent, hydroplaned and crashed, leaving 131 people dead, that the runway was remodeled and made larger, according.
Also known as Lukla Airport, Tenzing-Hillary Airport was renamed in 2008 in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. The airport is known as the place where most people start the climb to Mount Everest Base Camp, and is also known to be one of the world's most dangerous airports. Nestled in the heart of the Himalayas, the airport sits at an altitude of 9,000 feet and is subject to high winds, cloud cover and changing visibility. Takeoff is particularly scary. is at a 12% incline and abruptly drops off 2,000 feet to a river valley below.
Landing at this airport is not for the faint of heart. The airport’s runway is located on a cliff that drops into the Caribbean Sea on three sides and is flanked by high hills on the other. Jet airplanes are not allowed to land at the airport due to its incredibly short runway, which is , and only 900 feet of that are considered useful, according to CNN. The most common planes to land at the Caribbean airport are Twin Otter propeller planes.
Pilots flying into Reagan National Airport have to dodge several no-fly zones located over our nation’s capital just to land. Most of central Washington is prohibited airspace up to 18,000 feet so pilots are , according to the FAA. While following the Potomac River pilots have to perform a 30 to 40 degree turn while close to the river to line up with the runway. This maneuver is what has caused some to place the airport on their scariest airports lists.
There is very little room for error when landing at Saint Barthélemy Airport, located in the luxurious French village of St. Jean in the Caribbean islands. Also known as St. Barth's Gustaf Airport, only small commercial and charter planes can land on , according to PrivateFly.com. Planes usually descend extremely close over the heads of beach goers and nearby traffic. However, descending too fast can land your plane straight into St. Jean’s beach.
Ski-in/Ski-out? At Courchevel Airport tourists can hit the French Alps immediately after they get off the plane. There are , according to the airport’s website. The airport is considered dangerous due to its upslope runway and the ever-changing weather conditions in the French Alps. If the airport looks familiar it is because it was used in the opening scene of the 1997 James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies."
This airport is located on an artificial "D"-shaped island in Japan. As planes approach the airport it could appear as if the plane is landing in Ise Bay instead of on the island. Chubu Centrair International Airport is Japan’s third off-shore airport and is the second airport built on a manmade island in Japan.
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