I spend quite a bit of time on YouTube. What can I say… the videos are great. Granted, there are many stupid videos on YouTube; however, when you stumble upon videos such as one of an American Airlines Boeing 757 landing at Toncontin International Airport, it kind of makes the process of searching and sifting through the garbage of trashy videos worth the effort.
Photo by William L.B.J Dekker.
The Toncontin International Airport is a crazy airport. According to Wikipedia, Ryan Bert who wrote an article about the airport in 2001 on Airliners.net and photographer named William L.B.J Dekker, the Toncontin International Airport has one of the smallest runways in the world. To make matters worse, the airport is located on a plateau within the city of Comayaguela which is orientated between tall mountains. But wait, it gets even better! The runway itself is only 6132 feet long; however, it has a “displaced threshold” leaving only 5,436 feet of actual useable landing length. Oh but wait… it gets even better! In addition to the extremely short length, it also has a slight downhill slope making it even more difficult to land and stop. Could things possibly get any worse? Yes! Here is the final stab in the heart! 100 feet past the end of the runway is a cliff. If an airplane can’t stop in time, it will plummet down the dreadful cliff and crash. That is of course, if the planes doesn’t crash into traffic traveling on a street that is separated by a rickety and old 4 foot fence.
Over the years, several airplanes have crashed or have had major problems landing at Toncontin International Airport such as the TAN Boeing 727-200 (N88705) that crashed into the Cerro De Hule mountain in 1989. The mountain is commonly called “Rubber Hill”. The crash was fatal, killing 123 of the 138 passengers on board and killing 4 of the crew members.
TAN Boeing 727-200 Crashes Killing 123 In 1989
“The Boeing 727 had drifted from its VOR/DME to Runway 01. It crashed into Cerro de Hule (Translated into “rubber hill”) some 5,000 ft (1524 m) from the runway. This crashed killed 123 of the 138 passengers on board and half of the 8-member crew.”
- Ryan Bert
Passengers experience a lot of fear of landing at the Toncontin International Airport. Traffic lights have been installed and stop traffic when a commercial jet liner lands or takes off. There have been incidents in the past where an airplane made contact with the fence that separates the road from the runway as well as an airplane that hit a passenger bus.
“I am Honduran, and I gotta say that landing at Toncontin is almost suicidal. I’ve witnessed horrible landings even from major airlines. Some planes have tried even twice to land. That’s why they are building the one in Comayaguela. I love Honduras though!
Landing an airplane at the Toncontin International Airport is definitely a challenge. As challenging this may be for pilots, such as American Airlines Boeing 757 pilots, it may very well be more astonishing to watch from the ground. The Toncontin International Airport seems to have gained the interest of many aviation enthusiasts, spotters and photographers. Below is an amazing video I found on YouTube of an American Airlines Boeing 757 on final approach and landing at the Toncontin International Airport.
American Airlines Boeing 757 At Toncontin Airport
“Even though Honduras “FAA”(aeronautical civil and the government)had blasted some of the hillside nearby the approach stills a steep one and pilots of large planes “must” touch down the “zona de impacto” white lines or simply putting it, or else, it’s like landing onto an aircraft carrier…remember it is the shortest international runway around…but it’s fun landing in it……”
Have you ever landed at Toncontin International Airport as either the pilot or passenger? All around the world, which airport do you think is the most challenging to land? I would love to hear from you.
