Most Terrifying Plane Landings

HOLD on to your seats and be thankful you weren't onboard these terrifying flights as we take a look at some of the scariest plane landings ever.

From nearly hitting the heads of beachgoers to swinging violently from side to side, these videos show some extreme and amazing landings. 

Princess Juliana airport, St Maarten, Caribbean:

Beachgoers at St Maarten have a near miss as a plane comes in for landing perilously low over their heads at Princess Juliana International airport.

The Caribbean island airport is famous for its very short runway, which is just over 2,000 metres long. This forces planes to fly very low over the heads of tourists on Maho beach while approaching the runway.

Princess Juliana was rated the second most terrifying runway in Travel + Leisure website’s pick of the world’s scariest runways.

Lisbon airport, Portugal:

A pilot strikes fear into the heart of his passengers while attempting to land at Portugal’s Lisbon airport. The plane is tossed side to side as it bears down on the runway in poor weather, with the pilot eventually aborting the landing. The bad weather and thus poor visibility is no doubt a factor in the failed landing.

Lisbon airport is situated seven kilometres from the Portuguese capital and is one of the largest airports in Southern Europe. It has been expanded since its opening in 1942, and now has six jetways.

Several videos of extreme plane landings at the airport have been posted online, so this was not an isolated incident.

Toncontin airport, Honduras:

A plane just misses the heads of a group of onlookers as it comes in for a smoky landing at Toncontin airport in Honduras.

Pilots must execute a dramatic 45 degree turn to the left just minutes prior to touching down in a bowl-shaped valley - after negotiating the mountainous terrain.

The airport cannot accommodate aircraft larger than Boeing 757's and the Honduran government has announced plans to relocate commercial airline traffic to Soto Cano Air Base.

Toncontin airport came in at number seven in the world’s scariest runways list.

Zurich airport, Switzerland:

It was another scary sideways landing, this time at Zurich airport in Switzerland. The plane drifts closer and closer to the runway while on an extreme angle, landing with a thud.

Skiathos airport, Greece:

A jet flies very low as it approaches Skiathos airport’s runway in Greece.

The airport was built in the 1970s and receives regular charter flights from around the world.

Kai Tak airport, Hong Kong:

Have pity for pilots who had to land at Kai Tak airport, Hong Kong. Closed in 1998, the airport was the main international airport of Hong Kong for 70 years. Its single runway was located near the harbour, amid a number of tall buildings and mountains. There was also a problematic crosswind, making it very difficult for pilots to land.

These videos show just how close the planes were forced to fly to the top of the buildings. 

Source: news.com.au

Airline Pilot Speaks Out On Flight Delays

Welcome aboard. Our flying time this afternoon, not counting ground delays and holding patterns, will be two hours and thirty minutes.

Before we take off, I would like to apologize on behalf of this and every airline for the hassle you just endured at the security checkpoint. As is patently obvious to any reasonable person, the humiliating shoe removals, liquids ban, and pointy-object confiscations do little to make us safer.

Source: Department of Transportation
Unfortunately, the government insists that security theater, and not actual security, is in the nation's best interest. If it makes you feel any better, our crew had to endure the same screening as the passengers. Never mind that the baggage loaders, cleaners, caterers, and refuelers receive only occasional random screening. You can rest easy knowing that I do not have a pair of scissors or an oversize shampoo bottle anywhere in my carry-on luggage.

Just a moment.

Okay, well, as expected, we've received word of a ground stop. Our new estimated departure time is 90 minutes from now, subject to change arbitrarily, without warning.

And while we're waiting, let me explain that these sorts of delays (and it's not your imagination -- late arrivals and departures have doubled since 1995) result not only from our antiquated air traffic control system but also from too many planes flying into and out of overcrowded airports. Passengers demand frequency-you want lots of flights flying to lots of cities. But this can be self-defeating, because many of these flights will be late -- in some cases, very late. At airports near major cities like New York and Washington, D.C., the proliferation of small jets has added to the congestion. They make up nearly 50 percent of planes at some of our busiest airports yet carry only a fraction of overall passengers. This inefficient use of air and ground space is one reason we will be sitting here for the next hour and a half.

Once we're airborne, flight attendants will be coming around with food and beverages for sale. I know many of you are irritated that an in-flight meal now costs $7 -- on top of the $25 you just paid for an extra checked bag. Unfortunately, with oil prices skyrocketing and jets requiring as much fuel as ever (a coast-to-coast flight takes 8,000 gallons), it's impossible for us to provide luxurious service and rock-bottom fares at the same time. We know that most of you are miserable and that you long ago learned to despise every aspect of air travel. But try, if you can, not to take your frustrations out on other passengers or the crew. The overall surly vibe is unpleasant for us too. And ridiculous as this might sound, look on the bright side.

Yes, there is a bright side: more choices and surprisingly reasonable fares. Domestically, you can now fly between almost any two airports in the country with, at worst, a single stopover. Internationally, transoceanic routes have fragmented, allowing people to fly direct from smaller hubs in the United States to points in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere. Nobody enjoys holding patterns or sitting on a tarmac, but in earlier days, the overall journey would have taken longer-and cost more.

It's true that fares have risen sharply of late, but if they seem especially pricey, that's partly because they remained so cheap for so long, with many carriers selling tickets below cost. Fares in 2006 were averaging 12 percent lower than in 2000, despite a 150 percent rise in jet-fuel costs.

Current fares cost about what they did in the 1980s. And let's not forget that flying is much safer than it was in the past. Globally, there are twice as many planes carrying twice as many people as there were a quarter century ago. Although the raw total of crashes has risen, accidents are way down as a percentage of total flights.

I am well aware that airlines have become pariahs of the postindustrial economy. But it's rarely acknowledged that despite recurrent fiscal crises, major staffing and technology problems, and constant criticism from the public, our carriers have managed to maintain a mostly reliable, affordable, and safe transportation system.

Hang in there, and our crew will let you know if and when our plane might actually take off. In the meantime, those $7 sandwiches are actually pretty good

Interiors of an A380 Airbus from Singapore Airlines - picture gallery

Emirates Airlines offers showers in-flight - with pictures

See that happy-looking lady in the pic? She's standing in an Emirates A380 in-flight shower room, details of which have emerged recently. The "shower spas" are pretty decently kitted-out, and the aircraft carries an extra 1,100-pounds of water to allow every one of the 14 first-class passengers to have a splash.

As a result, the shower only runs for five minutes, and there's a traffic-light system to let you know how the time's going. And if you're planning on trying to form a new "mile-high, in the shower" club, you'd better forget it: the showers are small, "designed for single usage."

That extra 1,000 pounds of water (25% more than usual) means the aircraft will have to carry more fuel, which may weigh heavy on your environmental conscience. Or maybe lying in your massage bed in the private first class room, with remote-control doors and mini bar will make you forget your woes.