10 Terrifying Airport Runways

Check out some of the scariest takeoff and touchdown spots around the world

White-knuckle travelers beware: The airports below are notorious for their tricky, and oftentimes terrifying, runways. Whether the shorter-than-average landing strips end with an abrupt drop-off or mountainous terrain makes for a twisting flight path, getting to and from these airports takes some serious know-how. Fasten your seatbelts and read on to learn about the 10 most frightening runways out there.
Paro Airport, Bhutan

Nestled in a valley below the Himalayan Mountains, Bhutan's Paro Airport is notoriously frightening to fly into. In addition to navigating the area's 16,000-foot-high jagged peaks, pilots also must contend with forceful winds that gust around the mountains. But if you find yourself on a flight to Paro, rest assured that you're in good hands: Only eight pilots in the world are qualified to make the landing.

Toncontìn Airport, Honduras

A variety of factors, including a short runway, proximity to mountainous terrain and a tricky approach, make Honduras's Toncontìn Airport infamously challenging to fly into. In 2008, after the crash of a TACA airlines flight at the airport, all international flights were temporarily diverted to Soto Cano Air Base, and Toncontìn was reserved solely for domestic flights and smaller aircrafts.
Kai Tak, Hong Kong, China

It's no longer open, but Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong just might take the cake for the most hair-raising airport ever. It was located in the center of Kowloon, Hong Kong, and pilots were forced to make a sharp turn and fly between buildings to strategically place their jets on the runway—which ended with a drop into the ocean. Much to adrenaline junkies' dismay, runway misses and safety reviews caused the airport to close in 1998.
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba, Netherlands Antilles

On the northeast corner of Saba—the smallest of the Caribbean's Antilles islands—sits the tiny airstrip at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport. Trade winds and a mountainous terrain make it necessary to navigate the territory carefully, or else risk overshooting the 1,300-foot-long runway and ending up in the vast sea below.
Barra Airport, Scotland

Tarmac? What tarmac? At Scotland's Barra Airport, located on Traigh Mhor beach, planes land right on the sand. When the tide comes in daily, the airport is washed away. And when the sun starts to set, a few cars' headlights in a nearby parking lot provide illumination, since the airport features no artificial light. Sunbathers must watch out: When the windsock is flying, the airport is active, and they need to take their towels elsewhere.
Courchevel Airport, France

Since it's part of the French Alps' Les Trois Vallées ski resort, it's no surprise that Courchevel Airport's slanted, snow-flanked runway resembles a ski slope, complete with a vertical drop at the end. Pair the undulating landing strip with the region's snow, ice and blustery winds, and it's easy to see why this small airport has made our list.
Tioman Island, Malaysia

Getting to gorgeous, tropical Tioman Island isn't for the faint of heart: The airport's short runway not only ends in an abrupt drop off a cliff's edge, but pilots are forced to head straight for the mountains before making a sharp 90-degree turn to line the aircraft up directly with the landing strip.
LaGuardia Airport, New York

Thanks to congested airspace—nearby John F. Kennedy and Newark Airports also have competing traffic—as well as runways that jut out into the water, New York's LaGuardia airport is no piece-of-cake landing spot. One runway's approach requires pilots to make a steep, low-altitude turn frighteningly close to the ground.
McMurdo Station Airport, Antarctica

When aircrafts carrying researchers or supplies touch down in Antarctica's McMurdo Station, they do so upon ice, not tarmac. Though the ground's temperature is carefully monitored—if it's too warm the ice may not support heavy aircrafts—it can be a bit unnerving to land on sheets of frozen water. But according to some pilots, when conditions are good, touching down on the frozen tundra is smoother than landing at a regular airport.
Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Nepal

Named for two climbers who conquered Mount Everest, Nepal's Tenzing-Hillary Airport is an adventure in and of itself. It features one of the steepest uphill runways in the world, capped off with a fence to prevent planes from dropping off the edge of a cliff. And during takeoff, planes head downhill, where the runway ends and delivers aircrafts into a deep valley, where they hopefully gain enough momentum to climb skyward again.

 

Running wild: San Fermin festival 2011

Those mad adrenaline- (and sometimes alcohol-) infused half-mile dashes dodging 1,800-pound stampeding bulls have begun through the streets of Pamplona, Spain. Part-spectacle, part-tradition, the Running of the Bulls is the most celebrated slice of the nine-day San Fermin Festival. In addition to the daily runs, events include bullfighting and a parade featuring a statue of Pamplona\'s first bishop, St. Fermin. Pleads for safety and prayers of thanksgiving to St. Fermin traditionally begin and end the run through the streets, which was famously depicted in Ernest Hemingway\'s \"The Sun Also Rises.\" Concluding on the 14th of July every year, attendees gather on the town hall plaza at midnight for singing by candlelight.
1. Spanish bull fighter Alberto Aguilar looks at a Dolores Aguirre Ybarra\'s ranch fighting bull during a bullfight at San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona northern Spain, Saturday July 9 (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)
2. A reveler is tossed in the air during the start of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 6, 2011. (Susana Vera/Reuters)
3. A gigante (giant) passes down a street of Pamplona during the San Fermin procession on July 7, 2011 in Spain. Pamplona's famous Fiesta de San Fermin, which involves the running of the bulls through the historic heart of Pamplona for eight days starting July 7th, was made famous by the 1926 novel of U.S. writer Ernest Hemmingway called 'The Sun Also Rises'. (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
4. A reveler jumps from a fountain at the Plaza de Navarreria during the start of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 6, 2011.(Susana Vera/Reuters)
5. Revelers sitting on the ground follow the directions of a fellow reveler on the first day of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 6, 2011. The festival, best known for its daily running of the bulls, kicked off on Wednesday with the traditional "Chupinazo" rocket launch and will run until July 14. (Susana Vera/Reuters)
6. Anti-bullfighting demonstrators protest, one of them displaying a banner reading: ' Pamplona: Blood, Torture and Dead ', against the bulls runs on the Ayuntamiento Square in Pamplona northern Spain, Sunday July 3, 2011. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)
7. Runners are held back by shepherds in front of a steer at the entrance to the bullring during the first running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2011. Four people suffered minor injuries in the run that lasted two and a half minutes, according to local news sources. (Vincent West/Reuters)
8. Revelers are surprised by an angry leading ox, used to drive the fighting bulls during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin fiestas on Thursday, July 7, 2011, in Pamplona, Spain. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
9. Revelers run on the Estafeta corner as one Jose Cebada Gago ranch falls during the second running of the bulls at the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona northern Spain, Friday July 8, 2011.
10. Revelers stand at their balcony to watche the running of the bulls at the San Fermin fiestas on Saturday, July 9, 2011, in Pamplona, Spain. (Ivan Aguinaga/Associated Press)
11. A runner holds the horn of a Dolores Aguirre fighting bull during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin fiestas on Saturday, July 9, 2011. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
12. Revelers run next to Cebada Gago ranch fighting bulls during the running of the bulls at the San Fermin fiestas on Friday, July 8, 2011. (Ivan Aguinaga/Associated Press)
13. A model of a bull with fireworks attached to it on Plaza del Castillo Square at the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona northern Spain, July 9. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)
14. A boy reacts in fear as a "Kiliki" approaches him during San Fermin festival's "Comparsa de gigantes y cabezudos" (Parade of the giants and the big heads) in Pamplona July 8, 2011. Enormous puppets accompanied by brass bands parade daily through the city during the nine-day-long festival. (Susana Vera/Reuters)
15. A reveler lies on a bench while soap from cleaning workers make the dirt and rubbish flows away from him at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, Saturday, July 9, 2011. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
16. A man plays the violin during the San Fermin Festival, on July 12, 2011. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. (Pedro Armerste/AFP/Getty Images)
17. Revelers sleep after the start of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 6, 2011. The festival, best known for its daily running of the bulls, kicked off on Wednesday with the traditional "Chupinazo" rocket launch and will run until July 14. (Susana Vera/Reuters)
18. People toss a girl into the air in the early hours of the morning before the San Fermin running-of-the-bulls on July 8. ( Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
19. A child wears a mask of a bull during festivities on the second day of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7. (Vincent West/Reuters)
20. A woman takes a photograph of a 'picador' before a bullfight at the San Fermin fiestas on Friday, July 8. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
21. A couple kisses amidst rubbish at Estafeta corner during the fourth running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 10. (Vincent West/Reuters)
22. An old man earns his living imitating a Spanish bull fighter in front a wall with a poster reading: "Forbidden to put Posters" during the San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona northern Spain. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)
23. Spanish bullfighter Julian Lopez "El Juli" is applauded following a bullfight during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 12. (Vincent West/Reuters)
24. An unidentified Spanish bullfighter assistant waits to make "the paseillo" or ritual entrance to the arena before a bullfight at the San Fermin fiestas on Friday, July 8, 2011, in Pamplona, Spain. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
25. A Torrestrella ranch fighting bull is seen during a bullfight at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, on Thursday, July 7. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
26. A fighting cow leaps over runners at the bullring after the first running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7, 2011. Four people suffered minor injuries in the run that lasted two and a half minutes, according to local news sources. (Joseba Extaburu/Reuters_
27. A heifer charges at a reveler at Pamplona's bullring after the sixth running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 12, 2011. Two people were gored in a run that lasted two minutes and 16 seconds, according to local news sources. (Joseba Etxaburu/Reuters)
28. Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla, center, gets his 'capote' attached before a bullfight at the San Fermin fiestas on Sunday, July 10. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
29. Spanish bullfighter Julian Lopez "El Juli" performs during a bullfight at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 12. (/Vincent West/Reuters)
30. Spanish matador Ivan Fandino gives a pass to a Fuente Ymbro's bull during a bullfight at the San Fermin festival on July 11. (Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)
31. Spanish matador El Juli reacts as he gives a pass to a Victoriano del Rio's bull during a bullfight of the San Fermin festival on July 12, 2011, in Pamplona, northern Spain. (Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images)
32. Spanish bull fighter Alberto Aguilar makes the final thrust with the ' estoque ' to Dolores Aguirre Ybarra's ranch fighting bull during a bullfight at San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona northern Spain, Saturday July 9, 2011. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)
33. Spanish matador David Mora is knocked over by a Cebada Gago's bull during a bullfight of the San Fermin festival on July 8. (Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)
34. Cebada Gago's bull is seen during a bullfight of the San Fermin festival on July 8, 2011, in Pamplona, northern Spain. (Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)
35. A recortador performs with a fighting bull during an exhibition of acrobatic skills at the bullring on the fourth day of the annual San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 9. (Joseba Etxaburu/Reuters)
36. Recortadores perform during an exhibition of riding and acrobatic skills at the bullring on the sixth day of the annual San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 11. (Joseba Etxaburu/Reuters)
37. Mexican bullfighter Arturo Saldivar performs during a bullfight at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain, on Thursday, July 7, 2011. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
38. Rejoneador (bullfighter on horseback) Roberto Armendariz performs at the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 6, 2011. The annual festival, best known for its daily running of the bulls, kicked off on Wednesday with the traditional "Chupinazo" rocket launch and will run until July 14. (Joseba Etxaburu/Reuters)
39. Spanish bullfighter Antonio Ferrera inserts "banderillas" into a bull during the fifth bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 11. (Susana Vera/Reuters)
40. A wild cow chases runners at the bullring following the first running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 7. (Vincent West/Reuters)

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South Sudan: A new nation rises

The world has a new nation. The Republic of South Sudan officially seceded from Sudan on July 9, ending a 50-year struggle marked by decades of civil war. After a referendum earlier this year on independence passed with the support of 99% of the population of southern Sudan, events were set in motion that led to Saturday's celebration. Joy marked the festivities, but South Sudan faces steep challenges. Although the country has oil reserves and fertile soil, there is much poverty and little infrastructure. Collected here are images from the last several months, showing scenes of daily life, portraits of South Sudanese, and the celebration of independence.
1. Thousands celebrate their country's independence during a ceremony in the capital Juba on July 9, 2011. South Sudan separated from Sudan to become the world's newest and 193rd nation. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
2. A southern Sudanese voter receives an explanation on how to cast his vote on the last day of a week long referendum on January 15, 2011 in Juba. A handful of voters trickled to the polls on the final day of the landmark independence vote that is set to turn the page on five decades of conflict between the mainly Christian and African south and the mainly Arab and Muslim north. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)
3. A Sudanese woman holds a cross as she prays during Sunday service in a church in Juba on January 16, 2011, one day after the historical week-long independence referendum vote ended. South Sudan's president Salva Kiir urged his people to forgive the Muslim north for a devastating 1983-2005 war, as thousands flocked to church to give thanks for the landmark vote. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
4. Vegetables are for sale in a market on the first day after the referendum vote January 16, 2011 in the town of Yambio, south Sudan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
5. South Sudanese attend a Sunday church service on the first day after the referendum vote January 16, 2011 in the town of Yambio, south Sudan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
6. People wait to register at a hospital run in partnership with Medecins Sans Frontieres January 17, 2011 in the town of Yambio, south Sudan. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
7. A boy from the cattle herding Mundari tribe smiles early morning in a settlement near Terekeka, Central Equatoria state, south Sudan on January 19, 2011. Southern Sudanese voted overwhelmingly to declare independence from the north in a referendum. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
8. The layout team prepares an edition of The Citizen newspaper, an English language daily, at their offices in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on January 28, 2011. Their French-made printing press produced magazines and books in Belgium for over a decade, but is now relocated to Juba, and is south Sudan's first-ever printing press. (Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images)
9. Mandela Moses, working for the Mine Advisory Group (MAG), removes a .122 projectile around the Jebel Kujur, a rocky outcrop on the outskirts the southern Sudanese capital Juba on January 24, 2011. Juba is growing fast with returnees, leaving mine clearers with a challenge they face across south Sudan. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
10. A young girl from the Taposa tribe in the southern Sudanese town of Kapoeta pauses February 4, 2011. The Taposa are a largely pastoral tribe in the southeast region of southern Sudan, which remains acutely underdeveloped and rife with banditry, land mines, tribal clashes, and general insecurity. (Pete Muller/AP)
11. Southern Sudanese shop at a market in Aweil, the capital of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal state, on January 29, 2011. Like most south Sudanese, traders in the border states relish the prospect of cutting the umbilical cord with the north but face a daunting readjustment to survive the separation. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
12. Southern Sudanese celebrate the formal announcement of independence referendum results in the southern capital of Juba on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011. Referendum officials indicated that nearly 99 percent of all voters cast ballots in favor of independence. (Pete Muller/AP)
13. A Sudanese man shows the palms of his hands after he dipped them in the blood of a sacrificial cow as he and others celebrate the results of the January referendum on the secession of southern Sudan from the north in the capital Khartoum on February 7, 2011. (Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images)
14. Raw documents that make up the history of the world's newest nation to be are stacked and stored in a tent in the southern Sudanese capital Juba on February 1, 2011. The region's historical documents were badly damaged in the war, and many are now stored in this temporary tent while work continues to make digital copies. (Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images)
15. Expectant mothers wait for consultation at the maternity clinic of the Medecins Sans Frontieres Aweil civil hospital, the only hospital in Sudan's Northern Bahr al-Ghazal state, on January 26, 2011. The trip to Aweil can take two days by road for some of the most isolated villagers, but according to MSF, access to skilled staff, drugs and equipment have reduced the maternal mortality rate of 14 percent prevailing in the region to just 0.6 percent in the hospital. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
16. Mary Ayok Thil, 22, sits on her bed as she waits to give birth after arriving a month ago at the Medecins Sans Frontieres civil hospital in Aweil on January 26, 2011. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
17. Three young cattle keepers from the Dinka Rek sub-tribe pose for a portrait in a remote cattle camp in Wunlit County, southern Sudan on April 21, 2011. As pastoral groups consolidate their herds at scarce water points, the frequency of raiding by other groups increases. The morning after this photo was taken, these and other Rek repelled a violent raid on their herds by a neighboring sub-tribe. The fighting left at least three people dead and several more badly wounded. (Pete Muller/AP)
18. Father Emmanuel Malau stands inside his church in the village of Mayan Abun with internally displaced children who fled heavy fighting in Abyei on May 26, 2011. Malau spent days scouring the area in his pickup truck looking for young children who struggled to walk from Abyei to safer areas. Tens of thousands fled heavy fighting in the hotly contested border town as the northern Sudanese military took effective control of Abyei. (Pete Muller/AP)
19. Southern Sudanese are seen walking past a makeshift church in the town of Turalei in Sudan's Warrap state, 80 miles south of the flashpoint disputed region of Abyei on the north-south border of the country. (Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images)
20. A young displaced girl from the town of Abyei poses for a portrait in a makeshift camp in Turalei, southern Sudan on May 27, 2011 after she and her family traveled by foot from Abyei to Turalei, a journey that took over a day. According to local officials in Turalei, approximately 80,000 residents of Abyei have sought refuge. The mass exodus was prompted by a massive northern Sudanese military offensive. (Pete Muller/AP)
21. Cattle graze near a river forming part of the Sudd swamplands in southern Sudan on June 21, 2011. Vast swamplands cover much of the northern area of South Sudan, and cattle forms a major part of many people's livelihoods, as well as bearing strong cultural significance. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
22. Sudanese women walk to and from the town of Pariang in south Sudan's Unity State in search of food for their families after fleeing their hometown Jau on June 23, 2011. Families fled when the remote border town of Jau was targeted by army bombings. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
23. A man smiles as he carries a goat on his shoulders to sell in a market in Juba July 2, 2011. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
24. Southern Sudanese boys take shelter from afternoon rains that disrupted a rehearsal for independence day celebrations in the capital city of Juba on July 4, 2011. (Pete Muller/AP)
25. A Sudan People's Liberation Army soldier stands in line during a rehearsal of the Independence Day ceremony in Juba July 5, 2011. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
26. A southern Sudanese man sings the new national anthem during a rally organized by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Juba on July 5, 2011, four days before South Sudan officially declares independence from the north. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)
27. Women purchase grilled chicken from a street vendor in the main Konyo Konyo market in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on July 6, 2011. (Pete Muller/AP)
28. A rehearsal of the Independence Day ceremony attracts a visitor in Juba on July 7, 2011. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
29. South Sudanese members of the Mundari ethnic group wrestle where the tribe brought cattle and sheep for sale in Juba on July 7, 2011, two days before South Sudan secedes. The Mundari are cattle keepers who live in the south and pride themselves in being good wrestlers. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
30. People celebrate South Sudan's independence day in Juba July 9, 2011. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
31. A man dances with fireworks during South Sudan's independence day celebrations in Juba July 9, 2011. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
32. A man runs through the streets waving a South Sudan national flag in celebration of the country's independence in Juba, South Sudan, late July 8, 2011. South Sudan became the world's newest nation early Saturday, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of millions. (Andrew Burton/AP)
33. South Sudanese boys hold candles as the clock ticks over to midnight on July 9, 2011 to mark the day that South Sudan will officially declare independence from the north in Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan. (Marc Hofer/AFP/Getty Images)
34. A man with his face painted in the colors of the South Sudan flag attends the Independence Day ceremony in Juba July 9, 2011. Tens of thousands of South Sudanese danced and cheered as their new country formally declared its independence on Saturday. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
35. A man waves South Sudan's national flag as he attends the Independence Day celebrations in the capital Juba, July 9, 2011. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)
36. South Sudan President Salva Kiir lifts South Sudan's new constitution above the crowds of people attending an independence ceremony in Juba, South Sudan, on July 9, 2011. South Sudan celebrated its first day as an independent nation Saturday, raising its flag for the first time before tens of thousands of cheering citizens elated to reach the end of a 50-year struggle. (Andrew Burton/AP)