Posted on 12/31/2011 7:27:28 AM PST by KeyLargo
Only Eight Pilots Are Qualified to Land on This ‘Terrifying’ Runway
There is a small airport in the Himalayan mountains with a 6,500-foot runway and picturesque surroundings. When flying into Paro Airport in Bhutan passengers may be staring in terrified awe of the 18,000-foot mountainous peaks or have their eyes squeezed tightly shut as the pilot weaves through the range.
But only eight pilots are qualified to fly into Paro. And up until earlier this year, only one airline serviced the airport. The Daily Mail reports that take off and landing can only take place in daylight hours:
The runway is just 6,500 feet long – one of the few in the world shorter than their elevation above sea level.
Planes have to weave through the dozens of houses that are scattered across the mountainside – coming within feet of clipping the roofs.
Strong winds whip through the valleys, often resulting in severe turbulence. Passengers who have been on flights to the airport have described the landing as ‘terrifying’.
Now I must take Microsoft Flight Simulator there and see just how difficult it is.....
Elevation: 13,300 feet.
The terrain is really hideous, and the weather can be downright awful.
You have to be on oxygen to land there. No, the aircraft can't land pressurized. There is the wreckage of a C-141 that crashed into the mountains just a short distance from the main runway.
Tegucigalpa was a cakewalk on FS. Did you mean Toncontin International, or some other strip?
LOL. That’s an understatement.
I know some of the well-traveled globe-trotting folks here will chuckle, but as someone who has only flown within the continental US, the worst for me was flying in and out of Reagan after 9-11. The flight patterns were, and probably still are for all I know, very restricted, so, on takeoff the angle of ascent was VERY steep. I remember looking out the window straight down at Arlington Cemetery.
Tegucigalpa. For me, as a passenger, it was enough. The jet must’ve dropped out of the air 20 feet when it hit the runway. I’m sure there are worse places, but that was the one I’ll always remember holding my breath on. Sorry, but I haven’t a clue what FS means.
There is a traffic light right at that garage ... at the corner of Laurel Street and Pacific Coast Highway. I was stopped there once in a convertible, waiting for the red light to change, when a big Delta plane came right over our head and dropped onto the runway about 100 yards in front of us. I shall never forget that moment.
Happy New Year, Lass!
Some flight simulator fun in St. Louis (no, not Lambert Field):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtddgrO-SUU (from the east)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro3EEPawrKo (from the west)
I flew in an old Air America plane once - a Helio Courier if I remember correctly. It had bullet hole patches in the skin. The pilot flew the plane weaving through the mountains in northern Luzon in the P.I. He landed the aircraft running it right up the mountain side on a bumpy grass strip cut into the jungle. The pilot was Martin Burnham - a good brother and a great bush pilot.
That is cool. I’ve had similar experiences at the airport in Spokane, Wa. County road goes right past one end of the runway.
Sorry WCF. Microsoft Flight Simulator, aka FS. Combine this with Google Earth and you have the cheapest way to sightsee the world.
I saw Helio Couriers working in Laos, but never flew in one.
Here is the link to my 1970 Vietnam journal:
http://bswett.com/RVN/1970.html
Yes, you are correct. And someone managed to get a photo of the airliner just seconds before it hit.
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