The World's Scariest Runways

Moscow, Boston, Sydney and San Francisco

It is my experience that the scariest landings I have had have been, from least to most........Moscow; you are flying so low for like an hour over pine trees, which, if the window was open, I could cut and use for Xmas if I so chose.....Boston; all water and no land to see and you are flying so low, once again, I cold reach out and scoop some water out of Boston Harbor before, out of the blue, when inches above water, you are on the ground, without seeing the runway! The same go for Sydney an... Read More

JFK 13 L

JFK 13 L is on the other side of the airport. There's not a thing nailbiting about a straight-in landing on 4R which is what you show, although it is a bit unusual, most of the time flights land from the east, in which case the runway is 4L.

Santos Dumont airport

i really think the Santos Dumont airport in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil should be on this list. at least in top 10. just my opinion.

Madeira not scary

Love the article. So many travelers want to know what's going to stress them out when landing in a new locale. So this provides some useful information with a comprehensive list of airports. But I do disagree with the Madeira listing. Though its location may present some logistical issues for pilots, I didn't find it scary in the least. I found landing in Telluride, CO much scarier.
Jeanine
www.jthetravelauthority.com

Dutch Harbor and Lukla

I've landed at Dutch Harbor and Lukla and I remember Dutch being the scarier of the two. Maybe it was the feeling the plane was going to fall apart any minute.

Carnasie Approach JFK

The Carnasie approach is to runway 13 L or R, not ,as shown, to 04R runway which is a simple long straight ILS approach to a long runway.

Scary runways around the world.

Has anyone ever been to the Faroe Islands. That runway can scare the hell out of anyone. Check it out.

They have actually had accidents happen there with planes crashing into mountain sides due to foggy weather coming up suddenly, and the runway is so short they have to use the entire length to stop the plane. Inflight is through a Fiord and they have to hit the edge of the runway or go round once more.

Loja, Ecuador

tiny runway high in the Andes of southern Ecuador. The plane practically brushes the top of a ridge before doing a hard left and 90 degree turn to drop onto the runway. Only one flight in and out per day back when I lived in Ecuador, not sure now. Pretty exciting stuff.

Saba!

Saba airport - also very scary, shortest commercial runway in the world!