LaGuardia Named 8th Scariest Airport To Land

Photo via vidiot's flickr

Is LaGuardia Airport scarier to land in than JFK? Well, according to pilots it is! Congested airspace and runways extending into the water are on top of the list of what makes it so terrifying, according to SmarterTravel.com. The travel site ranked the Queens airport #8 in the most frightening commercial landing strip in all of the world!

One pilot told them, "On one approach to runway 31, the plane makes a steep, continuous low-altitude turn around what was Shea Stadium, now Citi Field, from south to northwest. It's very low to the ground and a short final approach." And the same pilot noted how it's proximity to midtown can often create the illusion that the plane is skimming rooftops amongst the city's skyline.

Passengers are also aware of the scary landing strip—one woman telling the Daily News, "It's like you're about to crash into the river! And if we did, it wouldn't be any 'Miracle on the Hudson' experience."

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By Jen Carlson in News on August 5, 2010 5:56 PM

Comments [rss]

ides_of_march

Had a white knuckle ride into LGA once. Couldn't have been more than 100 feet off the ground, about to land when the plane shot straight back up into the clouds. Few minutes later we were banking sharply over Yankee Stadium. Must have been a near miss.

Ethan

"We scare, because we care"-LGA

nyinsf

There was an article in the Times about the expressway visual approach when Shea closed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/sports/baseball/26pilots.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=la%20guardia%20airport%20shea&st=cse

Thespis

Yeah, LaGuardia's kind of a wild one.

I'm also a fan of Midway in Chicago. It's a tiny airport right in the middle of the city -- surrounded on all sides by buildings. Take a short runway in the middle of a city, throw in Chicago's weather, and it can be rough.

A couple of years ago a plane landed, hit ice, and went right through the fence and out onto 55th street. If I remember correctly, the people in the plane were ok -- but unfortunately it hit a car, killing one of the passengers.

JZ-man

They actually closed Midway, I think. Pretty much for those reasons you talked about.

Thespis

Midway's still open. You may be thinking of Meigs Field -- the small airport that was next to downtown, on the lake. They closed that in 2003.

I never got the chance to land at Meigs (since it could really only handle something the size of a Cessna, I think) -- but it would have been wild.

eller

Midway is still open.

justthinkin

I remember that crash. But certianly not as bad as this...

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1998/09/29/1998-09-29_red_snowthe_brooklyn_air_cra.html

justthinkin

It may be the 8th scariest airport to land at, but it's 1st when it comes to wanting to leave from it...in any mode of transportation you can find. What a dump!

henryhamilton

Which is why they serve drinks and offer aisle seats. The pilots should suck it up and STOP SCARING THE PASSENGERS.

tubbynj

I don't understand how the pilots are more freaked out by the water. They're worried they'll miss and hit it, as if that's WORSE than hitting the ground off the runway?

nicemarmot

LaGuardia is definitely the scariest of the three airports here, but I've seen lots scarier since first flying into LGA as a kid. I've also noticed LGA practically shuts down at the slightest bad weather. Which would sort of make sense since you really don't want to skid off that runway.

Or is it just that it shuts down all the time? I remember my poor mother trying to fly in and her flight being delayed seven hours, three of which she spent on the tarmac, while she sent me emails saying the airline was blaming the delays on storms in NYC, as I looked out the window and saw three drops of rain fall.