T V prog extreme airports.

[paravion]

Hi all
Just seen an advert for "Worlds most extreme airports " on
Channel 5 next thu at 19.30-21.00 feature length documentary.
Looks like it might be worth a look.

Brian......

[Deleted]

Thanks for the heads up on that one Paravion I'll have to see if I can get the remote off the missus for an hour and a half

Looks good though the TV planner says the following:-

Feature-length documentary highlighting the treacherous conditions that airlines face as they navigate the world's most dangerous airports. Every day, airline pilots deal with unpredictable weather, tough terrain, high-rise buildings and short runways with sheer drops. But there are ten airports that take these conditions to the extreme. This film provides a rundown of the most notorious airports in the world, where airline staff fight a constant battle to ensure the operation runs smoothly and safely.


Bob

[icebreaker]

That's well worth a look - count me in

[Deleted]

I'll be watching too, but having seen the trailer, it looks a bit sensationalist. I mean, Gibraltar is hardly an 'extreme' airport. Unusual, yes, and a bit of a challenge in a crosswind, but not extreme.
St Maarten is also featured - I suppose they couldn't resist that one, but again it's hardly extreme.

[thetexpat]

Ah, you'll never beat the old KAI TAK (Hong Kong) for a 'seat of your pants' approach

Had the 'pleasure' of experiencing this approach while riding the jump seat of a B707 many moons ago!

BTW, how do you get rid of the ad that tags along with the YouTube insert ?

[Deleted]

Kai Tak, now gone, would have loved to have visited a a mate of mine was in the army there, and always talks about it and shows me the pictures of landing between the high rise flats and no one in the same taking any notice.

Quality, just quality, just like the U tube piece

Happy Days

Bob

[thetexpat]

Unfortunately, the 'other side' of KAI TAK was much less forgiving, especially when 'Mother Nature' took charge!

In August, 1999 a Mandarin Airlines MD-11 was landing during a typhoon, touched down hard, flipped over and caught fire. Of the people on board 312 survived and three were killed.

This is a shot of the remains with another Mandarin Airlines MD-11 taxying past.
A true miracle!

[Vasidae]

I lost interest in this programme after the fifth, or was it the sixth commercial break ! The programme actually took up 90mins of chan.5's schedule, but with all the commercial drivel the programme was probably in reality only around an hour long.

Am I alone in being unable to watch tv anymore due to the same and continually repeated commercials such as "we buy any old crap dot com" or "have you had an accident recently"? and that irritating and demented tub of lard squawking "go compare-go compare" or Sir Michael Parkinson waving a parker pen in my face telling me I can have a free radio clock alarm as a welcoming gift if I sign up! If I could afford the wood I would have his mouth boarded up and his clock alarm would be inserted somewhere guaranteed to cause huge discomfort to Mr Parkinson !

Ok, maybe some of these mind numbing adverts may not have actually been transmitted during Extreme Airports, but this amount of commercial breaks is unacceptable and is typical of the way UK television has descended, passing Chilean miners on their way up ! (sorry couldnt resist that last one) !

[CloudWarrior]

I caught bits of this programme, but like most programmes these days, it was completely repetitive. An hour and a half of TV that could just as easily fill just half an hour.
I couldnt believe they didnt show any of the infamous cross wind landing shots at Hong Kong, that are so readily available on any aviation site.
I was disappointed with what I saw.

[Biggles]

You Tube has better, I had the programme set to record for over a week, the repeated info after each ad was soooo time wasting. The whole show could have been better which is a pity.

[Deleted]

Oct 15, 2010 21:46:19 GMT 1 Biggles said:

You Tube has better, I had the programme set to record for over a week, the repeated info after each ad was soooo time wasting. The whole show could have been better which is a pity.

I agree, Biggles. There are far more dangerous airports in S America. Quito, Medellin, Cuenca (Ecuador) Mitu (Colombia) La Paz etc.
Fair do's with Tegucigalpa, but Gib? San Diego? Eagle Vail didn't seem that difficult either, but I did note it was made for the History Channel, so that may explain a lot.

[Cityflyer]

Hey why dont we compile a list of the UK's top ten extrme airports.

To the list I would add

London City

Oban

This is a start what would you add, I will add a video of a landing @ Oban once I upload it to You-Tube

[Biggles]

I could add Bryn Bach Farm, if anyone has ever seen a Spitfire? Harvard or Beech 18 going in or out compared to GIB that is extreme.

[viscount]

To which can be added the likes of the Scottish tidal beach airfields eg Barra as recently covered in a photothread by Calflier.

Controversially, perhaps Heathrow due to a propensity for fog and low cloud. Maybe Jersey Airport with its gradient. Or how about Waddington with the busy A15 near enough crossing above the runway threshold level.

Historically, Portsmouth could be considered when they had schedules and Plymouth before the hard runway. RAF Brawdy when open had quite a cliff drop at one end of the main runway.

Am I right in thinking that Southend has a railway embankment across the threshold? Battersea Heliport cold be considered too, due to its urban location, new hotel adjacent and amount of traffic in the London helicopter lanes.

Airfields without scheduled airline services could include Caernarfon (caravan site and mature trees at one end, shingle bank at the other), Barton (M60 motorway bridge and winter soft ground). Rochester too is in a tight urban location with motorways close to finals.

Around Europe a number of Greek Islands are candidates eg Samos with mountains at one end, strong prevailing crosswind and Turkish airspace at the other. Iceland too has candidates, with airfields set in Fjords eg Akuyeri, while the Westermann Island airfield has a drop to the sea at both ends and rolled volcanic cinder surface. Sonderstrom Fjord in Greenland has an 'interesting' approach and cliff edge location. Don't know too much about Norwegian airports, but how about Innsbruck, Austria with its mountain valley setting?

[Cityflyer]

I will also add East Fortune, which has a Go-Cart track on the dumways that you have to cross over before landing,

Fife - Hill @ the ebd of one runway

Edinburgh has a railway embankment to the east of the airfield


Thats all for now more later