10 Scariest Runways from Travel + Leisure
July 13, 2008 by Mary Jo Manzanares
Filed under Air Travel
Stories! We’ve all got them.
Anyone who’s traveled a bit has a story about a scary takeoff or landing. Whether is was a little bit of turbulence, a smack down on the runway, or a truly harrowing experience, is probably open to interpretation.
In the most recent issue of Travel + Leisure, the magazine ranks the 10 scariest runways in the world.
In alphabetical order they are:
- Barra Airport, Barra, Scotland
- Gibraltar Airport, Gibraltar
- JFK, New York
- Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba, Netherlands Antilles
- Madeira Airport, Funchal, Portugal
- Matekane Air Strip, Lesotho
- Paro Airport, Bhutan
- Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten
- Reagan National, Washington, D.C.
- Toncontin Airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras (in photo)
I’ve only flown into two of the above airports, but neither one in on my list of scary runway stories.
How about you? What airport figures prominently in your scary story?
Photo credit: flickr
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St. Barts–the runway is so short that only “short take-off and landing” planes can access it–and Williamsport, PA–it’s surrounded by mountains.
This post was just mentioned on our local paper, The Palm Beach Post, which I’m sure you know from your stats, but still, it’s exciting.
JFK… definitely scary. But among my scariest moments in a plane is actually taking off from SNA (John Wayne Airport) in Orange County, CA. We have to take off at a 60degree angle and have to turn the turbines off once we get to a certain altitude. Then coast powerless. It’s freaky
Ryan