Afraid of flying? Stay out of this thread.

[We Are Legion]

Flying can be a white-knuckle affair for even the heartiest of travelers. But it turns out what you should really fear are airports; almost 60 percent of all aircraft incidents happen there during taxiing, take-off, approach or landing. Here are runway horrorshows from around the globe that may make you rethink your next trip.

Barra Airport, in the Hebrides off the West Coast of Scotland. Yes, it is a beach for take-off and landing. At least it's only for daytime flights.

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Water, water, Chubu Centrair International Airport, water, water. (Tokoname, Japan.)

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Approaching the Congonhas Airport in the middle of Sao Paulo, Brazil is highly challenging for pilots.

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Another risky beach airport: the Copalis State Airport's (Grays Harbor County, Washington) runway is located between the Copalis River delta and a barrier of rocks.

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The mountain runway at Courchevel Airport (France) is just 545m long. As if that's not scary enough, it's also got a gradient of 18.5% and a vertical drop at the end.

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Gibraltar Airport is located between a bustling city and a crashtastic mountain. Moreover, its 1800m long (short) runway intersects the Winston Churchill Avenue, Gibraltar's busiest road, which has to be closed every time a plane lands or departs.

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This is the Gustaf III Airport aka Saint Barthélemy Airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy. The short airstrip starts with a slope and ends on the beach.

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Kai Tak International Airport, famous and hated for its heart-stopping approach low over Hong Kong, ended its 73-year reign of terror in 1998.

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Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan. Approaching this feels like your pilot is about to land on water.

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Between mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, on the island cliffs, waits the frightening Madeira Airport (Portugal).

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Look at the horrifying Matekane Air Strip in Lesotho (Africa). 400m, and then nothing.

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Narsarsuaq Airport, Greenland. Severe turbulences and winds from the surrounding fjords make this airport a hard task for pilots. Only daytime take-offs and landings allowed, thankfully.

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Paro International Airport, the home of the Royal Bhutan Airlines, is located at an altitude of 2236m and surrounded by over 5000m-high-peaks of the Himalayas. Night or foggy landings are strictly prohibited.

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Pegasus White Ice Runway, Antarctica, the southernmost of three airfields serving McMurdo Station. Believe it or not, aircraft take off and land here all year long.

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Because of the short (2300m) runway at Princess Juliana International Airport (St. Maarten), large planes fly right over the tourists' head on Maho Beach. It's a spectacular sight—from the ground.

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A densely populated neighborhood, a cramped runway, active volcanoes, and frequent fog make Quito's high-altitude airport a threat for only a little longer; Ecuador's main airport is going to be moved to an agricultural setting 12 miles (20km) northeast of the city.

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Svalbard Airport in Longyearbyen on the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard in the Barents Sea was built upon a layer of permafrost in 1975. Continuous repaving makes it a hard landing place, literally and figuratively.

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The Tenzing-Hillary Airport (Lukla, Nepal) is located 2860m above sea level, and its runway is only a few hundred meters long.

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Toncontín International Airport has an extremely short runway—and a mountainous surrounding—in Honduras.

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Toronto Islands Airport (Ontairo, Canada) is another pinpoint landing site. Andthere's a nude beach close to the runway, which I'm sure isn't the least bit distracting.

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Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, Saba. This Caribbean landing site is surrounded by high hills, and both ends of the runway drop into the sea.

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Wellington, New Zealand: short runway, hilly landscape, strong crosswinds, turbulent landings.

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Williams Field, Antarctica, has two snow runways limited to ski-equipped aircraft during the summer season. Airplanes land on 8m of compacted snow, lying on top of 80m of ice, floating over 550m of water. Must be a blood-chilling experience.

I've seen the one in Ontario from inside the CN Tower, but I didn't see a single plane land there.

But yeah... I'm never taking off or landing at any of these airports. Taking off is always the most difficult part of a flight for me, and I'm pretty sure flying head-on at a mountain or bunch of buildings right after grabbing air would definitely make me lose my shit.

Thankfully, I don't plan on visiting many of these places, particularly the arctic ones. I see enough of that kind of bullshit here.

 

[~Fallen Angel~]

You shouldn't have looked this up since you're scared of flying!!

 

[Ozymandias]

[video=youtube;AlTNj6IWey4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlTNj6IWey4[/video]

I'm a pretty good flyer, but my heart is in my mouth just watching some of these landings

 

[zigglerHEEL]

[video=youtube;AlTNj6IWey4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlTNj6IWey4[/video]

I'm a pretty good flyer, but my heart is in my mouth just watching some of these landings

This is RAD!! I want to go there! I love flying and pretty much all things planes.... that said, I'd probably piss myself the first time one came in for landing only 30 some feet above my head!

 

[The Cork]

St. Maarten one looks like the opening sequence to Lost, and the Osaka one looks like it's floating in mid-air.

Most these look like private airports though so you'd never get the chance to land there, fortunately/unfortunatly for thrill seekers.

 

[Chriss]

The Tenzing-Hillary Airport looks like fun. I can imagine the plane taking off there. Man, that must be a beatiful view.

 

[Troy]

I really enjoy flying, well I enjoy it for about an hour and then I get annoyed at being crammed in a small seat for eight hours. Being 6'5 doesn't help at all with leg room. The whole concept of flying just appeals to me as it is an incredible achievement to get something that heavy up in to the air. I have no issues with a fear for flying and in fact I love watching Air Crash Investigation which looks at famous crashes and it goes through the investigation to show what happened. If I am ever on a plane and it goes down there is nothing I can do about it so I see no need to be worried about it.

 

[Andrew]

St. Maarten, that's a place I need to go to now.

 

[We Are Legion]

If I am ever on a plane and it goes down there is nothing I can do about it so I see no need to be worried about it.

This is EXACTLY why it tends to scare the living shit out of me... because I can't do anything about it. If there was something I could do, then it would calm my nerves. And it's crazy because you're not the first person I've heard say this, I just don't understand the perspective or how that "calms" you. I don't get how people can be so nonchalant about the possibility of dying. Like, "Yeah if the plane crashes, then whatever man..." I just... I don't even...

 

[~Fallen Angel~]

I really enjoy flying, well I enjoy it for about an hour and then I get annoyed at being crammed in a small seat for eight hours. Being 6'5 doesn't help at all with leg room. The whole concept of flying just appeals to me as it is an incredible achievement to get something that heavy up in to the air. I have no issues with a fear for flying and in fact I love watching Air Crash Investigation which looks at famous crashes and it goes through the investigation to show what happened. If I am ever on a plane and it goes down there is nothing I can do about it so I see no need to be worried about it.

I enjoy flying too but it can be annoying when you're on the plane for over 5 hours.

 

[Troy]

This is EXACTLY why it tends to scare the living shit out of me... because I can't do anything about it. If there was something I could do, then it would calm my nerves. And it's crazy because you're not the first person I've heard say this, I just don't understand the perspective or how that "calms" you. I don't get how people can be so nonchalant about the possibility of dying. Like, "Yeah if the plane crashes, then whatever man..." I just... I don't even...

First of all love the Jackie Chan image.

It just doesn't bother me at all, why should I worry about something that I can't control? Plane crashes are so rare these days as well especially in devloped countries so if I am on a plane and it goes down then I am just incredibly unlucky. I play the odds and there is such a small chance of it happening it doesn't worry me.

I enjoy flying too but it can be annoying when you're on the plane for over 5 hours.

It does get tedious after a few hours even with a book and with all the movies and tv shows available. I try to sleep on a plane to pass the time but I can never get to sleep and I envy those that can. I am sure that it would be a lot more fun in business and first class though.