Worst city to fly into....?

Question

What would you say is the worst city to fly into? And is there a city that has a reputation for being a particularly "hairy" landing on a consistent basis.

Answer 1

Port-au-Prince,Haiti (PAP).

Kids mingled with cows on the runway!

London City (LCY) is crazy too

Answer 2

My least favorite in the US is Reno; the plane goes into this sort of naturally-made trench between two mountains and there are very strong winds in the trench, and the wind pattern is weird. You're basically flying into the same place where winds going different directions into the mountains meet. It is always a super-bumpy, rough landing. I hate it! All you can see is mountains and you're getting bounced around badly; hard to stay calm even if you've done that flight a dozen times before.

Outside the US, Saint Croix is pretty bad. The runway is not much better than a dirt road (it's paved but not in great condition and if it is rainy season, there's probably mud washed across it which makes it look like a dirt road) so it's bouncy; they only fly puddle-jump airplanes in there and I swear sometimes there are chickens and cows so close to the airfield that you're positive they're going to run across the runway at any second.

Also in the US, a lot of pilots take the southbound approach into National Airport too fast. It's a short runway and a water approach and I swear, on a lot of those landings, they have to get out the Bat-chute to stop the plane. That landing isn't really scary but they do overcook it pretty often.

Answer 3

Salt Lake City. Especially in the clouds, all you see is clouds then suddenly a mountain is right next to you. Denver is a great place to land. Very flat no mountains to worry about.(maybe coming from the west, never been in that way) I hear the worst landing for pilots is San Diego because its short and there is a parking garage at the end.

Answer 4

I've had delays at almost every major airport...but the worst place I've ever flown into is the Lewisburg, WV airport (which serves the Greenbrier Resort). I started out my week at a five star resort scared to death. US Airways (as Mesa Airlines) flies you into this crappy mountain airport on a little Beechcraft 1900D--19 seats, with no flight attendant and no cockpit door (which I thought was required post 9-11, but oh well). I was thrown all over the sky before we finally landed.

Answer 5

Riding the thermals into and out of LAS or PHX on a hot summer day can get really interesting, But my least favorite is Midway -MDW - in Chicago something about short runways - under 6500 '- located in the middle of a residential neighborhood

Answer 6

chicago o hare. they have lots of delays and cancellations because of wind and other bad weather conditions. also, its one of the largetst hubs, so theres a higher risk landing there, and also, my landing through there was tough- bouncy, couldnt land immediatley, had to fly around the runway several times to land because of visibility...you get the idea. theres lots of people, lots of delays and lots of cancellations. also, if you have a cancelled flight, i do believe they only have about 100-200 cots, and about 500 blankets...so, hope you get a standby, fast.
chicago ohare was a really bad experience for me, so if i can avoid it i will not fly through there again. good luck!!

Answer 7

Denver is slightly scarey in the US, but Quito Ecuador has it beat by a long shot! Its up in the Andes and can make you grip the back of your seat. I hear La Paz in Bolivia is even worse.

Answer 8

Definatly Denver.
Why? because it is a mid way point hub for airplanes to pick up flights to other directions. Also it has fickle weather. And when the weather is bad, it is very bad.

Answer 9

i've had a bad experience flying into denver from the east... i think the mountains have something to do with it.

Answer 10

Chicago O'Hare ORD, LGA, DEN