For The Love Of Port

Hey guys and gals,

I was on Jalopnik today getting my automotive news fix, when I saw that they linked a video with a cockpit view landing at Funchal taken by British Airways. Great views that I didn't get to enjoy looking out the side of the plane on my landing. There are some additional videos on the page showing the windy landings, but when I went, both my landing and take-off felt as routine as flying into/out of SeaTac.

-Lindsay

Here's the link:
http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/this-por ... 1710445727

The link seems to have been cut off so it's not working properly...

The bad old days with the old runway that was short and narrow was truly a scary proposition for pilots and passengers alike. When they nearly doubled the length of that runway during a major renovation project (not that many years ago), it changed that dynamic. There is still some serious wind sheer at times, due to the cliffs/mountains on one side and Atlantic Ocean on the other; but nothing close to what used to be a white knuckle experience that earned FUN Airport the reputation as one of the Top 10 worst places to land a plane.

http://flightclub.jalopnik.com/this-por ... 1710445727

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TAP might not get your luggage there, but they can land at Funchal. They were 3 for 3, while the easyJet plane didn't make it down until the third try, and it appears two planes gave up and diverted elsewhere. (See the compilation video on the page.)

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I've also flown into Lukla airport in the Nepal Himalayas. Those pilots were some of the most impressive I've seen.

Eric Ifune wrote:I've also flown into Lukla airport in the Nepal Himalayas. Those pilots were some of the most impressive I've seen.

If this is the one I'm thinking of I've seen footage of it. Holy crap is what I said when I watched it. That is one scary runway.

Eric Ifune wrote:I've also flown into Lukla airport in the Nepal Himalayas. Those pilots were some of the most impressive I've seen.

Similar to Courchevel in France. Marijke & I rented a plane in Annecy and flew by it, but we didn't try to land there!

Upon further investigation, I see that a History Channel program ranked Lukla the most dangerous airport in the world, whereas Courcheval came in seventh.

Lukla is about 9300 feet in altitude. Thin air up there. The runway is on a mountain spur, so no touch and go's. Otherwise you run into the mountainside. Angled runway so you can stop before running into the mountain, and get more velocity on takeoff. Visual flight rules only and at that altitude, there are lots of clouds. When I flew into there, we were delayed three days because of cloud cover. When we finally made it, the pilots would weave in and out of the clouds to get their visual bearings.

Eric Ifune wrote:Lukla is about 9300 feet in altitude. Thin air up there. The runway is on a mountain spur, so no touch and go's. Otherwise you run into the mountainside. Angled runway so you can stop before running into the mountain, and get more velocity on takeoff. Visual flight rules only and at that altitude, there are lots of clouds. When I flew into there, we were delayed three days because of cloud cover. When we finally made it, the pilots would weave in and out of the clouds to get their visual bearings.

holy smokes


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Courcheval:

Bradley Bogdan wrote:

Eric Ifune wrote:Lukla is about 9300 feet in altitude. Thin air up there. The runway is on a mountain spur, so no touch and go's. Otherwise you run into the mountainside. Angled runway so you can stop before running into the mountain, and get more velocity on takeoff. Visual flight rules only and at that altitude, there are lots of clouds. When I flew into there, we were delayed three days because of cloud cover. When we finally made it, the pilots would weave in and out of the clouds to get their visual bearings.

holy smokes


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Here's a video on the airport. Crazy if you overshoot the runway, no going around and you hit the wall at the end. Or drop off if you don't take off correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y14LkCJd7-4