NIGHTMARE AIRPORTS

TONCONTIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,

HONDURAS

The History Channel’s Most Extreme Airports ranked this airport as

the second most dangerous airport in the world and for a good

reason. Its runway is located in a valley surrounded by mountains and

the way in is also the way out for the planes, which of course increases

the risk for tragedy. Surprisingly, and despite all these extremely

high-risk factors, planes as enormous as Boeing 757s land and take

off from this airport daily.

GIBRALTAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, GIBRALTAR

After taking a quick look this airport might look perfectly normal to you

but if you take the time to look a little closer, you will notice a couple

of unusual features about the international airport of Gibraltar.

Undoubtedly, the most exceptional thing about this airport is that the

main landing strip passes through the city’s main street. Yep, you

guessed right. Every time an aircraft has to land or take off, the

vehicles in the city have to stop for the train to pass . . . oops,

for the plane to fly we meant.

MADEIRA AIRPORT, PORTUGAL

This small, international airport, which takes you to the beautiful island

of Madeira, Portugal, has a very short runway even though its size was

doubled back in 2003. Additionally, the ocean surrounds it on one side

and high, rough mountains on the other. It is widely considered one of the

most dangerous airports in the world and after looking at a picture of it

we’re sure you can immediately understand why.

PRINCESS JULIANA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,

SAINT MARTIN

There wouldn’t be much of an issue if this airport was in an isolated

location but Princess Juliana International Airport is one of the busiest

airports in the Caribbean. To land at Princess Juliana, pilots have to

fly over a little part of the beach, cross over the fence, pass over the

road, and then, finally, land on the runway, which makes it a candidate

for the title of the most dangerous airport in the world.

ICE RUNWAY, ANTARCTICA

Ice Runway is one of three major airstrips used to haul supplies and

researchers to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station. It was developed to

allow Boeing 757s to bring passengers there, freeing up space on

incoming C17s for greater cargo capacity. As you can probably imagine

by now the real dangers with this airport have more to do with the extreme

weather conditions, rather than the design or position of the airport itself.

GUSTAF III AIRPORT, SAINT BARTHÉLEMY

This airport has an impossible-to-believe short runway that usually

accommodates small aircraft carrying fewer than twenty passengers.

The runway is at the base of a slope that ends on the beach.

Additionally, planes exercise caution during the approach because

of the hilltop traffic, while taking off literally occurs over the heads of

all the people who are sunbathing on the sand or swimming in the water.

QAMDO BAMDA AIRPORT, TIBET

Tibet is located in the world’s highest mountains, the Himalayas, so it

shouldn’t surprise anyone that Qamdo Bamda Airport is one of the

world’s highest, perched more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Another

extraordinary and extreme feature of this airport is its 3.5-mile-long

runway, which is considered to be the longest in the world.

The lower concentration of oxygen at such altitude may cause some

discomfort to newcomers and it also lowers the aircraft engines’

performance, making landing there a nightmarish experience

for everyone on the plane.

JUANCHO E. YRAUSQUIN AIRPORT, SABA ISLAND

To get to this naturally beautiful Caribbean island can be quite an

experience, since this airport is really nothing more than a 1,300-foot-long

runway. Surrounded by high cliffs, this dangerously short runway,

which would make an amazing spot for BMX or skateboard competitions,

comes dangerously close to a steep slope that leads directly to the ocean.

As one can easily understand large planes aren’t landing there for a

reason, but the small runway is difficult even for Cessnas’ aircraft and others.