Top 10 most dangerous airports in the world

Top 10 most dangerous airports in the world

Click on the icons to learn more about those airports

Introduction

Analysis

Conclusion

Project process

References

Test Yourself

Did you read carefully ?

Picture 9

Back

Santos Dumont Aiport - Rio

• Located on a bluff overlooking Guanamera bay.
• Makes the approach feels like you are going to land on a aircraft carrier.
• Unusually short runways : 1323m for 02R/20L runway and 1260m for 02L/20R runway.
• No ILS on the airport.

Video 1

Video 2

• Runway made of white snow (densely packed snow).
• Pilots land on thin ice.
• Issue with melting snow due to climate change.

Back

Williams Field airport - Antarctica

Video 3

Back

Tenzing-Hillary Airport - Nepal

Picture 10

• 9,000 ft above main sea level.
• Surrounded by mountains and chasms.
• Short runway : 527m.
• Accessible only by helicopters and small aircraft.

Video 4

Back

Courchevel Altiport - France

• Short runway : 537m.
• 18% slope.
• Landing on runway 22, take-off on runway 04, no matter the wind.

• Neither ILS nor lighting aids.
• No Go-Around.

Video 6

Back

Barra Airport - Scotland

• Runway made of sand
• Landing and take-off depend on weather conditions.
• During high tide days 3 runways submerged.

Video 5

Picture 1 : OPSGROUP Team. (2018). Untitled photograph of an aircraft landing at Madeira airport. [Online image]. OPSGROUP. https://ops.group/blog/funchal-airport-winds/ Picture 2 : [Photograph of Madeira aiport]. SKYTRAKS. https://skytraxratings.com/airports/madeira-airport-rating Picture 3 : fotofritz16. (n.d.). An aerial view of the landing approach to PBH. [Online image]. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/paro-bhutan-airport-landing-intl-hnk/index.html Picture 4 : [Photograph of Paro International Airport]. TRIPADVISOR. https://www.tripadvisor.fr/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g293845-d7118407-i111865227-Authentic_Bhutan_Tours-Thimphu_Thimphu_District.html Picture 5 : [Photograph of Wellington Aiport]. WLG. https://www.wellingtonairport.co.nz/news/airport-updates/strong-continued-recovery-for-wellington-airport/ Picture 6 : [Photograph of Princess Juliana runway]. Windward Roads Infrastructure. https://windwardroads.com/rehabilitation-runway-10-28-princess-juliana-international-airport/ Picture 7 : Princess Juliana International Airport, in collaboration with the Ministries of Justice and TEATT, has announced the re-launch of an automated border control system. [Online image]. (n.d.). CaribDaily.News. https://caribdaily.news/article/3f4a9620-264c-4b5c-9419-1bec78db2afe Picture 8 : Albert Nieboer. (n.d.). Saba: The Dutch Caribbean island of Saba is just a teensy five square miles in area. [Online image]. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/gallery/saba-juancho-e-yrausquin-airport-photos/index.html Picture 9 : Infraéro. (n.d.). Untitled photograph of Santos Dumont Airport. [Online image]. AEROFLAP. https://www.aeroflap.com.br/fr/le-gouvernement-évaluera-le-retour-des-vols-de-Santos-Dumont-à-Brasilia/ Picture 10 : [Photograph of Tenzing Hillary Airport]. Everest Thrill. https://everestthrill.com/tenzing-hillary-airport/ Video 1 : APPROACH INTO SANTOS DUMONT AIRPORT BRASIL. (n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BpxMHlUB6Bs Video 2 : 737-800 butter landing at Santos Dumont. (n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/us58RR0ngzg Video 3 : JC Fernan. (2015, February 3). DHC-6 Twin Otter takeoff from Williams Field (NZWD) McMurdo Antarctica [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgOTO8Stp4o Video 4 : Mountain Mate. (2022, October 15). Lukla Airport.. Landing & Takeoff October 14, 2022 | Most dangerous Airport in the world [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_0_BT10gEs Video 5 : Secret Scotland. (2023, September 26). Barra Beach Airport - Plane landing and taking off. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yVroX5UZQM Video 6 : High Performance Air Racing. (2022, March 26). LANDING AT THE MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORT IN THE WORLD! (Courchevel Airport, France) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TfYcMKYZmM General information : World Of Luxury. (2024, February 27). Top 10 Most Dangerous Airports In The World [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb6PFv4vbgs Wikipedia

Wellington International Airport - New Zealand

• 3 miles Southwest of the city center.
• Short runway : 2081m
• Runway starts and ends overwater.
• Known for turbulent landings due to the channelling effect.
• Nerve-wracking for pilots.
• Requires a special ability.

Picture 5

Princess Juliana International Airport - Saint Martin Island

• Proximity with Maho Beach.

• Windshear caused by surrounding cliffs and hills.

Picture 6

Picture 7

We started by searching the information we needed and made the page layout of the presentation. Then, we wrote the introduction, the conclusion, the analysis, the evolution of the project and references. We finished by making a quiz on wooclap. We had to face the difficulties of finding enough relevant information about the different airports, finding short videos and also working with an app we have never worked with before. This led us to change a few things we wanted to do like not putting videos but photos for half of the airports as it requested less work.

Paro International Airport - Bhutan

• In a valley.

Picture 3

• Surrounded by peaks as high as 18,000 ft.
• Specialized certification required for pilots.
• Only under VMC and daily hours from sunrise to sunset.

Picture 4

Aviation is a field where safety is a priority resulting in a lot of rules and certifications for pilots, ATC, airports, ground staff and planes. We decided to look for dangerous airports to understand what makes them special. We looked up a video with the 10 most dangerous airports in the world and then made some research to have more specialties for each of them. Let's discover those impressive airports together by navigating through the world map !

Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport - Saba Island

• Known as the shortest commercial runway in the world : 396m.

• Only for small propellers planes.
• Pilots have to navigate in a narrow corridor surrounded by mountains and cliffs.
• Pilots perform demanding manoeuvres to avoid overshooting the runway.

Picture 8

We can tell now that what makes an airport dangerous is a short runway, high altitude, mountainous areas, windshear, gusts and the runway component (snow, sand, asphalt).Consequently, there are some restrictions. First, pilots need special abilities and qualifications. Then, some aircraft are not allowed because there is not enough runway to land and to take-off. Finally, in some airports pilots need to take off and land under VMC and/or during daylight hours.

By going trough those different airports and their specificities we discovered that their dangerous natures depend on several factors. The most commun factors are represented in the chart below.

In addition, some airports regroup several factors, which contribute to their dangerousness.

Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport - Madeira

• Mountainous area.
• Strong gusts.
• Raised platform held by pillars to increase runway length.
• Over the ocean.
• Requires an additional training.

Picture 1

Picture 2