It also can demand that any private pilot who plans to come to the Aspen airport must first pass a vigorous mountain flying exam or pay a steep penalty. It's becoming more common in people under 55. The highest commercial airport in the United States, its runway sits on a plateau above the San Miguel River and dips in the middle. The circumstances of the crash immediately aroused suspicion: Aspen-Pitkin County Airport did not allow night landings and had instituted a curfew at 6:58 p.m., but the crash occurred at 7:02. . A limited amount of pilots are qualifiedto fly into this airport after completing advanced training on a simulator. At one end of the runway is a mountain wall and the other end is a dramatic 2,000-foot plunge into the valley. Tenzing-Hillary Airport. Positioned in the Himalayan mountains, the 9,325 feet high Tenzing airport was named after the first two climbers that scaled Mt. The mountainous area surrounding the airport also poses a challenge, forcing the pilots to land and take off in opposite directions, but using a single runway. Bookmarks are saved to your account and can be accessed from any device. The final approach slope is slightly less than seven degrees, about equal to that for the UKs London City Airport. Aspen airport reopens after landing incident Saturday, no injuries "The second it gets windy or they get a [millimeter] of snow, the whole place goes [haywire]," one pilot wrote on Reddit. One clear day I asked the tower if I could circle to 33 [in a Challenger] just to see what it was like, one pilot said. In 1956, Aspen Airport Corporation officially deeded the Airport to Pitkin County making it a publicly owned public use airport, one of the requirements for federal participation in airport development. They were right on minimums, and I was seconds away from calling a missed approach when I got the runway? Due to non-standard runway/taxiway separation, the airport has a 95ft (29m) aircraft wingspan limitation. A journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. Today's Video: Big Jets At Aspen Airport - The Most Dangerous Airport In America? Good times! The runway at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport was lengthened and widened in 1983 to be 7,006 feet long by 100 feet wide. Hold on tight, folks, it's going to be a bumpy landing! Not surprisingly, another Colorado Rocky Mountain airport is ranked as one of the most dangerous. Parking is not allowed in front of Aspens airport terminal.[7]. The Most Dangerous Airports In The World - The Delite What about Sardy/Aspen Airport up in Aspen it's been known to be dangerous too along with the one in Leadville! You won't pay more and it won't bite you This slope makes taking off difficult and is reachable through deep valleys where only certified pilots are allowed. Pilots on Reddit complain about the rough runway ("like landing on a dirt road") and say that, as smooth as your touchdown may be here, "you're going to feel like you slammed it on." Thats not smart planning. There's people everywhere. The terrain, the weather . With three grass runways and one main runway, it intersects with the national railway line. Danger may be your middle name but this airport is treacherous not only because of the extremely short runway but because of its height, location between mountains, and, oh yeah, the lack of power and air traffic controllers. Sometimes there is no electric power at the airport and the pilots need to be in constant communication with the air controllers throughout the landing. but while landing at a dangerous airport like Aspen during poor weather, the onset of night should have given them pause. The airport meets modified FAA D-III airport reference code standards. There is a reason us pilots refer to it as LaGarbage. 4.9K views 1 year ago hello, today we are plane spotting at the DANGEROUS AIRPORT of Aspen Regional Airport! McBride cited the same disadvantages as above: the Aspen airport is sandwiched between mountain ridges at the end of a mountain valley with no option to lengthen the current runway; the airport is prone to harsh winter weather that often cancels flights and forces diversions; the airport operates with takeoffs and landings in opposite directions, a prescription for danger. I flew into Aspen regularly for 26 years, many, many weekends every year, starting before they had an approach and would clear you to SKIER intersection at 16,000 feet to hold. The runway is only five feet above sea level and all three runways are completely submerged during high tide. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2014-02-03/pilots-address-hazards-aspen-arrival. Everest through freezing terrain, the Lukla Airport in Nepal is the prime airport for anyone who is visiting Mt. Meanwhile, the $400 million estimate for Aspens expansion is a princely sum for grandiose designs at the most dangerous airport in the country. That's been the experience of the pilot who spoke to AOL Travel, "They are unbelievably demanding. The lack of lighting and no approach system also help to place this airport anywhere on the scale from treacherous to simply impossible to use in adverse weather. No one was injured in the incident . We are landing at 9pm night and taking off at 140pm from ase. What makes the Courchevel Airport so dangerous is the altitude of course (6,500 feet), but also the tiny 1,760-foot runway and its 18.5 percent gradient slope making it necessary for the small planes landing here to touchdown at inclined angles just to slow down. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. How dangerous is the landing at this rather unassuming airport with the microscopic 6,500-foot runway tucked in among 18,000-foot peaks of the Himalayan Mountains? No thank you! This is likely due to the fact that the airport, which is wedged between two mountains, requires a swift descent at high altitude.. [6] For most aircraft operations, especially commercial operations using CRJ-700 planes, aircraft must land to the south but take off to the north. now I know what you were trying to tell me. And yes, we did land, he was a talented aviator. What makes the picturesque Princess Juliana Airport dangerous isnt the sunbathers below on the beach but the technically-too-short 7,100-foot runway originally built for the smaller planes that once frequented the island before the tourism boom arrived. Commercial interests are clearly at the controls, guiding the proposed Hindenburg of an airport expansion on the assumption that bigger jets will bring more passengers and more money to enrich insatiable commercial interests. ", "Newark was never meant for the volume of traffic that comes and goes there," he says. Due to the lack of runway lights, flights are only permitted during daylight, thus hindering flights duringthe winter when the sun never rises. Morphing the quaint Aspen airport of today the most dangerous airport in the U.S. into a Jetsons-style spaceport is being sold to the public as an economic necessity, when its not. Besides the congested airspace that all airports in the area suffer from, one pilot explained to AOL Travel that Newark stands out as "the worst. [1] Aspen/Pitkin Co. Airport/Sardy Field covers an area of 573 acres (232ha) at an elevation of 7,820 feet (2,384 m) above mean sea level. Years later when the VOR approach to RW 15 was commissioned, we flew it religiously. ASPEN Pilots will tell you that flying into and out of Aspen can be dangerous and so does the data. Of course this is because Aspen has its fair share of rich and/or famous residents. In addition to regular service from Denver, Aspen sees more than 20 flights a week from Chicago and Los Angeles.[4]. Aspen is said to have the most dangerous commercial airport in the country, with a disturbing 44 accidents in 1980-2019, 13 of them causing a total of 44 deaths, though trending down. I have flown into this airport many times and it is for sure a white-knuckle experience. I'm pretty senior with my airline, so I don't have to fly a route that's going there if I don't want to. This massive airport can be a pain for plenty of passengers trying to catch a connecting flight, but for pilots, the wind there is what's most frustrating. The ambitious project won the 2004 Outstanding Structure Award which is considered the Oscars of structural engineering. 10 Scariest U.S. Airports - ABC News One of America's Most Dangerous Airports | Landing at Aspen | Cirrus SR22 - YouTube Even on a nice VFR day, it still takes a lot of hard work to land at Aspen. Pilots must be certified to land in Aspen. The airport is packed. Almost a month later I made a dramatic landing in Bhutan that was like a scene out of Star Wars where my commercial airliner had to bank dramatically to fit in between the narrow, remote mountain terrain. One pilot, writing on Reddit, laid out his reasons for avoiding it: This despised airport is a major pain in large part because it's the most heavily guarded airspace in the world, seriously restricting pilots' options (unless they want to have a fighter jet roll up next to them). With mountains to the north and east, Mexican airspace to the south and strong tailwinds blowing in from the west, pilots better watch out. Don't count on these folks to be in a good mood. 15 Most Dangerous Airports in the US [Update 2023] - USA by Numbers As a retired airline captain explained to USA Today, "There is no electronic glide slope (vertical guidance) provided.". 1 expressed concern of the Airport Vision Committee was and is safety.. The 40 spaced parking lot is located in a manner to allow motorists to loop and re-access the terminal without getting back on HWY-82. Move some of the general aviation aircraft to the west side of the runway. In March 2019, there were 95 aircraft based at this airport: 66 single-engine, 10 multi-engine, 13 jet, 5 helicopter, and 1 glider. The Aspen/Pitkin County Airport operates on a core set of community values: safety, health and well-being, environmental responsibility, and operational efficiency. Any airport that requires special pilot training easily makes a list of the most dangerous airports in the world. While road traffic must come to a standstill for airplanes in Gibraltar, landings at Gisborne Airport on the eastern edge of New Zealands North Island must be coordinated with the national rail service which runs the Palmerston NorthGisborne Line directly across the one main paved and three grass runways. This is a BETA experience. Although Midway isn't quite as busy as its sister airport, O'Hare, that doesn't make it any less scary. All Rights Reserved. On January 5, the wind was as strong as 28 knots from the northwest just before the ill-fated Challengers landing. 2. "We really don't want to scare people from flying, so maybe we should call these the most "thrilling" airports to land at. navigator.sendBeacon('https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', payload); Experience is a plus but not required for the right, Seeking Professional Day and Night Drivers Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Aspen & Vail Set your own schedule weekly Top Drivers Earn, The Ute Mountaineer is seeking a Marketing Coordinator. In July 2009, the airport took delivery of a new Oshkosh Striker 1500 Index B ARFF truck. document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', function() { To make things worse, one writer points out that the crosswinds here are intense, due to the airport's water-adjacent location. They'll walk off the plane with six or seven drinks and a pile of snacks in their bag. Paul Andersens column appears on Mondays. 1. ", Perhaps worse than crying kids are entitled rich people, and pilots get plenty of those in this destination for the wealthy. Take McBrides idea one step further: Instead of spending $400 million on morphing Aspen into a mega airport, a portion of those funds could both improve the Rifle airport and fund an improved transit infrastructure from Rifle to Aspen. Dining with Death: The 2001 Avjet Aspen crash - Medium Catalina Airport has an altitude of 1,602 feet, dubbing it the Airport in the Sky, and is known to have downdrafts and turbulence on approach. The lowest landing minimums at ASE are available only to pilots who complete special FAA-training. These reflect our local character and mission to preserve the high quality of life you're sure to experience throughout your visit in Pitkin County. Check out more of the scariest airports to take off from and land at. Luckily, the plane was stopped by the Engineered Materials Arrestor System at the end of the runway before it plunged over a cliff. ASE provides a variety of ground transportation options connecting the airport to all local destinations. Another pilot said frontal passages create turbulence across the mountains so severe at times that an approach is not even possible. Per Title X of the Pitkin County Code, the airport has several unique operating limitations. On the bright side, there are some incredible airports and destinations you can now reach thanks to these 20 Exciting New Flight Routes Coming in 2020.