PSA – on 5 tonight – World's Scariest Plane Landings 8pm

I like scaring the bejesus out of myself. This looks good.

It will probably feature a few from East Midland Airport if it has UK ones.

I have had one truly awful flight about five years ago with bags falling from the lockers, flight crew looking pale and the plane shunting thirty feet sideways about one hundred feet off the ground. It just makes you realise how safe it is when you land in one piece, I have found flying much easier since that time.

Flying into Madeira next month. I was watching youtube videos the other day to put me in the holiday mood 🙂

(9th trickiest airport to land at apparently)

Landing at a not very big, moving airport:

Andy

(Can’t get video embed to work – hmmmm)

Ryanair should have a good few! A few years ago they tried to land on the airport approach road in Cork…

Hasn’t it been on before? Sure I remember watching something like that a while ago. Worst one is somewhere in the Himalayas apparently. Steep runway with a cliff at each end! 😯

Landing at a not very big, moving airport

Counter-intuitively, when you land on an aircraft carrier you do it at full throttle cos if you miss the arrester wire you need the power to be able to get off the deck again and go round. Weird feeling, landing at full power…

only thing I noticed with Madiera is that the brakes come on might fast and strong.

When you take off they have to land again at another island as they can’t carry enough fuel when taking off, because of the weight.

Hasn’t it been on before? Sure I remember watching something like that a while ago. Worst one is somewhere in the Himalayas apparently. Steep runway with a cliff at each end!

This is about crash landings – not tricky airports.

“World’s Scariest Plane Landings”

Bit of an odd programme? I imagine this landing was a bit scary for those who died and survived!

FD – that was a real tragedy. They were so, close to landing. Like the British Midland one at Kegworth. SO close to the airport. Mind you if you kill a healthy engine while the other is afire…

How long did the survivors have to wait for their bags after that one eh?

i used to be a cabin boy and we had some right scary landings…..put me off flying for a few years but im cool with it now…used to have 4-6 flights a day

the planes are getting quieter and faster over the years..

cabin boy?

cabin boy?

Roger?

Roger, is that you?

EDIT: fast, m_f, fast. 😉

landing at gibraltar is amusing.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=gibraltar+airport&hl=en&ll=36.151321,-5.34133&spn=0.00894,0.019054&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=12.393172,35.068359&vpsrc=0&hq=gibraltar+airport&t=h&z=15

Presumably lots of shoddy 35 year old RAF TriStars held together with black nasty as well…

I’ve landed at Gibraltar. I could only see down, I was looking at water, then water, then more water getting closer and closer.. come on.. tarmac, please tarmac! TARMAAAAAAAAAAAAACC!!!! Phew! Bump!

molgrips – I had a similar experience flying into La Guardia. What a terrifying tease!

It’s an old program, first shown in January 2009 I believe

Yep, that’s the kind of thing grips.

Whole new level of faith in the skills of the pilot

I do know from my father that Handley Page’s adjacent runway was some distance shorter than the recommended minimum length for a Victor to take off and land on. Imagine trying to take off in a plane that’s fresh from the production line and hasn’t yet been fully tested…quite a white knuckle ride apparently.

And Boscombe Down’s runway was also some distance shorter than the recommended minimum for the Lightnings they used to train pilots in there.

Wouldn’t be allowed nowadays…

I’ve landed at Gibraltar. I could only see down, I was looking at water, then water, then more water getting closer and closer.. come on.. tarmac, please tarmac! TARMAAAAAAAAAAAAACC!!!! Phew! Bump!

That’s like the old Fornebu yaffut in Oslo. Lots of diddy little islands, but also lots of water. In winter it’s not scary cos all the water is frozen and you don’t think you’re about to crash into a watery grave.

What a crap programme – lost interest just after the first set of adverts because they hadn’t even managed to show one plane in a ball of flames and the first landing was boring when they eventually got around to showing it.

What a crap programme – lost interest just after the first set of adverts because they hadn’t even managed to show one plane in a ball of flames and the first landing was boring when they eventually got around to showing it.

I agree. Nothing more that you could see if you sat down on YouTube for 5 minutes without putting up with all the adverts and build-up. Was a bit disappointed, I was expecting more of a ‘Black Box’ type documentary.

I like this. I presume it was on.

Those shadows get very close! Plus a nearly 180 degree very tight turn.

Right now Marrakech is top of the list of my most-hated-airports-to-land-at. Imagine you have a five year old with an airport toy set to play with, and the game is to point all the other planes at each other. Then, to calm him down, you give him a jumbo box of Smarties and a bottle of Coke…

Scuttler – that’s impressive plane handling! Makes a change from all this electronic stuff nowadays 🙂

crazy-legs – Member
Hasn’t it been on before? Sure I remember watching something like that a while ago. Worst one is somewhere in the Himalayas apparently. Steep runway with a cliff at each end!

Lukla. Mrs Druidh is going to be sampling it in March.

Col Steve Austin crash landing that secret high alt spy plane will certainly be on I expect. They did have to rebuild him, mind.

Counter-intuitively, when you land on an aircraft carrier you do it at full throttle cos if you miss the arrester wire you need the power to be able to get off the deck again and go round

Crazy-legs,

You’ll know the line about wafus not being paid more, but rather being paid faster?

Andy

The other tricky bit about landing on a boat is that carriers are designed to be stable on roll which means they pitch badly, and this means that the end of your runway is moving up to 30′ up and down.

Lukla airport, Brilliant. Flew out of there a few years ago back to Kathmandu. Was gutted when a Helicopter turned up for us.