Tabletop runway

Last updated
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in Saba, an example of a tabletop runway. Saba airport.jpg
Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport in Saba, an example of a tabletop runway.
An Air India Express landing on Kozhikode International Airport in India. AirIndia Express Landing Calicut.JPG
An Air India Express landing on Kozhikode International Airport in India.
Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport in Madeira. Madeira (2).jpg
Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport in Madeira.

A tabletop runway is a runway that is located on the top of a plateau or hill with one or both ends adjacent to a steep precipice which drops into a deep gorge. [1] [2] This type of runway creates an optical illusion of being at the same level as the plains below, which requires a very precise visual approach by the pilot when instrument landing is not used or not available. [3] [4]

Contents

List of tabletop runways

CountryLocationAirportAirport Codes
(IATA/ICAO)
Ref.
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Sao Paulo Congonhas Airport CGH/SBSP
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Bucaramanga Palonegro International Airport BGA/SKBG
Pasto Antonio Nariño Airport PSO/SKPS[ citation needed ]
Pereira Matecaña International Airport PEI/SKPE
Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg  Faroe Islands Sørvágur Vágar Airport FAE/EKVG [5]
Flag of France.svg  France Courchevel Courchevel Airport CVF/LFLJ
Flag of India.svg  India Himachal Pradesh Shimla Airport SLV/VISM [6]
Kerala Calicut International Airport CCJ/VOCL [7]
Karnataka Mangalore International Airport IXE/VOML [8] [9]
Mizoram Lengpui Airport AJL/VELP [9]
Sikkim Pakyong Airport PYG/VEPY [10]
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Lampedusa Lampedusa Airport LMP/LICD [11]
Flag of Nepal.svg    Nepal Dolpa Dolpa Airport DOP/VNDP [12]
Khotang Manmaya Rai Airport ?/VKND [12]
Okhaldhunga Rumjatar Airport RUM/VNRT [12]
Mugu Talcha Airport ?/VNRR [13]
Solukhumbu Tenzing–Hillary Airport LUA/VNLK [14]
Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport KTM/VNKT [15] [12]
Sankhuwasabha Tumlingtar Airport TMI/VNTR [12]
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Saba Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport SAB/TNCS [14]
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines Baguio Loakan Airport BAG/RPUB
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal Santa Cruz Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport FNC/LPMA [16]
Flag of Saint Helena.svg  Saint Helena Longwood Saint Helena Airport HLE/FHSH [5]
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Playa Santiago La Gomera Airport GMZ/GCGM
Montferrer i Castellbò Andorra-La Seu d'Urgell Airport LEU/LESU
Flag of the United States.svg  United States California Catalina Airport AVX/KAVX [5]
Monterey Airport MRY/KMRY
McClellan Palomar Airport CLD/KCRQ
San Nicolas Island NOLF ?/KNSI
Arizona Sedona Airport SDX/KSEZ [5]
West Virginia Yeager Airport CRW/KCRW [5]
Colorado Telluride Airport TEX/KTEX

Selected accidents and incidents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedona Airport</span> Airport in Yavapai County, Arizona

Sedona Airport is a non-towered airport located 2 miles southwest of the central business district of Sedona, a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The airport covers 220 acres (89 ha) and has one runway and one helipad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran Aseman Airlines</span> Airline in Iran

Iran Aseman Airlines is the third-largest Iranian airline headquartered in Tehran. It operates scheduled domestic passenger services and regional international services.

Lufthansa Cargo AG is a German cargo airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa. It operates worldwide air freight and logistics services and is headquartered at Frankfurt Airport, the main hub of Lufthansa. Besides operating dedicated cargo planes, the company also has access to cargo capacities of 350 passenger aircraft of the Lufthansa Group.

Air India Express is an Indian low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian flag carrier airline Air India. Currently, it is headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kozhikode International Airport</span> International airport in Kozhikode, Kerala, India

Kozhikode International Airport, also known as Calicut International Airport, is an international airport serving the city of Kozhikode in the state of Kerala, India. It is located at Karipur near Kondotty in the Malappuram district of the South Malabar region. It serves the Malabar region, consisting of Malappuram, Wayanad and Palakkad. It is situated 28 km (17 mi) away from Kozhikode and 25 km (16 mi) away from Malappuram. It serves two of the seven metropolitan areas in the state—Kozhikode metropolitan area and Malappuram metropolitan area. The airport opened on 13 April 1988, and serves as an operating base for Air India Express and operates Hajj Pilgrimage services to Medina and Jeddah from Kerala. It is tied with Hyderabad in terms of international traffic. It received the international airport status on 2 February 2006. It is one of the few airports in the country with a tabletop runway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embraer Phenom 300</span> Brazilian-built light business jet

The Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 is a light business jet designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. Certified for single-pilot operations, it can carry up to 11 occupants. Work on the Phenom 300 started in response to customer demands for a larger business aircraft than the Phenom 100, a very light jet. While the design team originally intended for the aircraft to be a straightforward stretched derivative of the Phenom 100, a clean sheet approach was later adopted. The Phenom 300 featured more powerful engines, the addition of spoiler and winglets, along with an elongated cabin to accommodate more passengers. Several features, from its cabin and interior design to its landing gear and structure, can be traced back to the Phenom 100.

Dniproavia was an airline headquartered at Dnipro International Airport in Dnipro, Ukraine, which operated scheduled and chartered passenger flights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rio Sul Serviços Aéreos Regionais</span> Brazilian airline

Rio-Sul Serviços Aéreos Regionais S/A was a regional airline headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, operating scheduled services to southern Brazil. Its main base was São Paulo–Congonhas Airport, with hubs at Porto Alegre Airport and Santos Dumont Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water landing</span> An aircraft landing intentionally on a body of water

In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water surface in an aircraft not designed for the purpose, a very rare occurrence. Controlled flight into the surface and uncontrolled flight ending in a body of water are generally not considered water landings or ditching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangalore International Airport</span> Airport in Mangalore, Karnataka, India

Mangalore International Airport is an international airport serving the coastal city of Mangalore, India. It is one of only two international airports in Karnataka, the other being Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore. Mangalore International Airport is the second busiest airport in Karnataka. In addition to domestic destinations, flights depart daily for major cities in the Middle East. The airport was named Bajpe Aerodrome, when it opened on 25 December 1951 by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who arrived on a Douglas DC-3 aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAP Flight 425</span> 1977 aviation accident

TAP Flight 425 was a regular flight from Brussels, Belgium, to Santa Catarina Airport, Portugal, with an intermediate scheduled stop in Lisbon. On 19 November 1977, the Boeing 727 operating the service overran the airport's runway before crashing onto the nearby beach and exploding, killing 131 of the 164 people on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing 747 hull losses</span>

As of July 2020, a total of 60 Boeing 747 aircraft, or just under 4% of the total number of 747s built, first flown commercially in 1970, have been involved in accidents and incidents resulting in a hull loss, meaning that the aircraft was either destroyed or damaged beyond economical repair. Of the 60 Boeing 747 aircraft losses, 32 resulted in no loss of life; in one, a hostage was murdered; and in one, a terrorist died. Some of the aircraft that were declared damaged beyond economical repair were older 747s that sustained relatively minor damage. Had these planes been newer, repairing them might have been economically viable, although with the 747's increasing obsolescence, this is becoming less common. Some 747s have been involved in accidents resulting in the highest death toll of any civil aviation accident, the highest death toll of any single airplane accident, and the highest death toll of a midair collision. As with most airliner accidents, the root of cause(s) in these incidents involved a confluence of multiple factors that rarely could be ascribed to flaws with the 747's design or its flying characteristics.

Air France has been in operation since 1933. Its aircraft have been involved in a number of major accidents and incidents. The deadliest accident of the airline occurred on June 1, 2009, when Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203, flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with 228 fatalities. A selected list of the most noteworthy of these events is given below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air India Express Flight 812</span> 2010 plane crash in India

Air India Express Flight 812 was a scheduled international flight from Dubai International Airport, Dubai to Mangalore International Airport, Mangalore. On 22 May 2010, the Boeing 737-800 passenger jet operating the flight crashed on landing at Mangalore. The captain had continued an unstabilised approach, despite three calls from the first officer to initiate a "go-around", resulting in the aircraft overshooting the runway, falling down a hillside, and bursting into flames. Of the 166 passengers and crew on board, 158 were killed ; only eight survived. This was the first fatal accident involving Air India Express and, as of 2010, the deadliest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Blackbushe Phenom 300 crash</span>

On 31 July 2015, an Embraer Phenom 300 business jet crashed into a car park next to Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire, United Kingdom, while attempting to land. The sole pilot and all three passengers on board were killed. The three passengers were members of the bin Laden family.

Many aviation-related events took place in 2020. The aviation industry was impacted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air India Express Flight 1344</span> 2020 plane crash in Kozhikode, India

Air India Express Flight 1344 was a scheduled international flight on 7 August 2020 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Kozhikode, India, landing at Calicut International Airport. The flight was part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian nationals stranded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight crew aborted two landing attempts because of heavy rain and tailwind. On the third landing attempt, the aircraft touched down on runway 10, but skidded off the end of the tabletop runway and slid down a 9–10.5 m (30–35 ft) slope, killing 19 passengers and both pilots. The four cabin crew members and 165 passengers survived, of whom all but two were injured. This was the second fatal accident involving Air India Express, after the 2010 Mangalore crash.

References

  1. "Beauty belies tricky runway". The Telegraph. 2010-05-22. Archived from the original on 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  2. "What is a table-top airport?". NDTV. 2010-05-23. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  3. "Tabletop runways create an optical illusion". The Hindu . 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
  4. "Why the Tabletop runways considered risky?".
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "What Is A Tabletop Runway?". Simpleflying.
  6. Service, Tribune News. "Shimla's table-top airport 'riskiest', is 300 metres short of required length". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  7. "Quixplained graphic: What are tabletop runways?". The Indian Express. 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  8. "Tabletop Runways". GKToday. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  9. 1 2 "Calicut is one of the three tabletop airports in India, runways hinder rescue operations". Moneycontrol. web|url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/kerala/the-dangers-posed-by-tabletop-runways-1.4961521%7Ctitle=The dangers posed by tabletop runways|website=Mathrubhumi}}
  10. "Pakyong in Sikkim another risky airport with tabletop runway". The India Times. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  11. "Tabletop Runway: Definition and Risks". aviationfiles. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kathmandu Airport also sits on a 'table-top', like Kozhikode". AviationNepal.com | Aviation Nepal News Network. 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  13. Daily, Republica (Jan 16, 2017). "Talcha Airport: Precarious yet astonishing to look at". Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  14. 1 2 "16 Most Dangerous Airports of The World - 2020 List". www.holidify.com. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  15. "Factbox: What is a 'table-top runway', the site of deadly Air India plane crash?". Reuters. 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  16. "Madeira Airport". MapnAll. Retrieved 2023-07-02.
  17. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 N224MD Sedona Airport, AZ (SDX)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  18. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Let L-410UVP-E20 9N-AKY Lukla-Tenzing-Hillary Airport (LUA)". www.aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  19. "Air India plane overshoots Karipur's table top runway, drops into valley; 19 dead". Hindustan Times. 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-08-07.