Some of the world’s scariest runways off the beaten path
I stumbled across an interesting article on http://www.travelandleisure.com today. The story takes a look at the world’s scariest runways.Two of the runways mentioned really caught my attention. According to the article, only eight pilots have the qualifications necessary to take on the challenge of flying into Paro, Bhutan. I won’t lie, I had to look up the place on a map. Bhutan is located between China and India.
And I can’t even imagine taking off in a plane at Matekane Air Strip in Lesotho — yes, I had to look this location up, too. It’s like a lesson in world geography.
According to http://www.lesotho.gov.ls, the Kingdom of Lesotho is completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa.
Anyway, the runway in Lesotho ends at the edge of a cliff — and the runway isn’t quite long enough. When the planes are leaving, they plummet over the edge of a 2,000-foot cliff until the planes start flying.
But not all of the runways are in far away places. We have one, right here in the U.S. — Reagan International Airport, in Washington, D.C. The article said all the restricted airspace in Washington makes for a difficult landing.
The travel site offers photos of the runways. It’s something to see — not sure I’d want to visit. Would you?
Posted by on 04/12 at 07:17 PM
It would be interesting to see the statistics of take offs at those airports.
It might be a thrill—like a great rollercoaster. But maybe I’d chicken out.