I ran across this on the web and thought about most harrowing flight landing...Mine was at JFK and coincidentally it is on this list. We were just about to land (wheels down and everything) then the pilot suddenly had to abort the landing...The plane jerked just a bit and we circled the Hudson for about 15 minutes...Someone said it was because of wind sheer. (sp?) In this article they have clips of the different airports and the planes landing. One is like a ski slope and one or two there are only 8 pilots in the world allowed to land planes there. Interesting and entertaining. I was thinking because most on here travel or have travelled extensively.. Anyone have tales of uncomfortable or downright scary airplane landings or take offs... Here is the link to see some of the landings at these airports: http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...iest-runways/1
Actually I should have titled this thread:Worlds Scariest Airport Runways...But anyways have fun watching the clips...

I used to live in Hong Kong. It was always a thrill to land at the city's Kai Tak Airport, now sadly closed. The approach required a very steep bank (to avoid hitting a mountain) onto final approach, then a rapid descent below the tops of the apartment buildings lining the approach to runway 13. You could look straight into the living rooms of apartments as you roared past. To cap it all off, there was often a strong crosswind which meant the plane would approach the runway at an angle of up to 30 degrees before straightening at the last moment for the landing.

Fun times. Have a look at some of these videos of Kai Tak landings.

There was a famous case of a China Air aircraft (IIRC) that overshot the runway and ended up in the harbour. The airline was investigating salvage options when the authorities decided (after about an hour) to blow the tail off the plane with dynamite, as it was sticking out of the water and was deemed an air traffic hazard. Ruthless efficiency.

Super clip...Funny about the living rooms..LOL

Nothing beat a great approach into Hasenstrick airfield (ZH Oberland). Two clicks on the VHF to close the level crossings and then brace yourself for a carrier like full stop on the short grass strip on the side of the Bachtel - priceless.

LCY - London City - always worth carrying a change of underwear in your hand baggage.

i didn't know you lived in hk! i grew up there - so yes kai tak holds some fond memories for me too - infact i was there on the last day before it closed (now it has some sort of gokarting there, or it used to)
i was also at Chep Lap Kok when it was first developed.
Landing at kai tak was pretty hairy at times but at least you got to see alot of kowloon - which made a warm welcome back

Yeah I used to live in HK too and it was truely the 'best commercial airport landing experience' you could experience. Coming in at night was spectacular wtih all the city lights, but the dusk day landing was best when you could actually see people in their kitchens. I swear to God that I could see their eyes! this from the perspective of a 747 is pretty amazing. I was sad when they closed that airport - it was the last great airport location.

2 years ago we were in Nepal and thinking about doing the Everest trek when a plan crashed and killed 18 people at Lukla airport, its one of the worlds most dangerous airports. Needless to say we went on a different trek after that!

Yeah I was going to say London City too, they certainly don't do smooth landings!! But I think the airport itself is fab, one of my absolute favourites.

Wow this HongKong airport sounds like the ultimate "drive by"...LOL What also amazes me is that most of the time if you have a window seat and looking out (I love to look out the windows) you can never see the runway until you are a few feet away. During approach for landing you don't have a clue...at least I don't... At times I wonder "does the pilot know where the runway is?"...

Not the worst but a bit more remote and prepare to get your feet wet if you get it wrong. One of the more unusal places I have been.

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Cos of the sign on the hill that basically said "Turn right NOW!"

The scariest runways I've experienced were the commercial airports in SW Alaska (Ketchikan and Sitka)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KTN-b.jpg

Ketchikan is especially crazy because the airplane needs to make a 90 degree turn around a mountain and land at the foot of it.

Also- it would be really cool if someone built a bridge to the airport because you have to take a boat taxi to get from the airport to the city...

I am surprised Isafjördur airport, Iceland, is not on the list. Montain on all side but the water side. The fjord is not even broad. They have to turn while flying up, they take off in front of a kliff on the other side of the fjord.
http://www.airports-worldwide.com/ic...ur_iceland.htm

You should try glacier landings in a fully loaded Pilatus Porter where the pilot, a woman about 5-foot-nothing but all business, flies past the LZ, pulls a tight 180 cuts the power, glides in, hits the flaps, and just before 'landing', punches the power. Even having flown with bush pilots in Alaska, I was in awe.

My Goodness!...when you really think about it, it's amazing the skill pilots have to have...or should have...LOL

One of my more "interesting" landing areas... Lundy Island

San Francisco on a windy day was pretty interesting, though more than 8 pilots can nail that one.

Was doing a trip for school to the solomon islands for a month and landed on Gizo airport. Or should I say 'gizo airport atoll'

...are you serious?! Lol, that is crazy.

Complete with two plane wrecks in the reef at the end of the runway.

Probably one of the few relatively untouched areas of marine reef systems in the world. So beautiful. Also has been mostly preserved from westerners due to the civil war ....and the fact that if you don't like that landing, its a long boat ride from Guadalcanal