World's Most Dangerous Airports: Shimla Airport, India || Jaunted

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World's Most Dangerous Airports: Shimla Airport, India

Where: Himachal Pradesh, India

7/15/2008 at 2:02 PM
Tags: World's Most Dangerous Airports, SLV (all tags)

The newest addition to our list of The World's Most Dangerous Airports comes courtesy of a Jaunted tipster. It's Shimla Airport, set nearly a mile high in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India.

Shimla, once being the summer capital of British India, has foggy weather approximately 100 days a year and is situated 6,988 feet above the sea level. It has become an attractive destination for sun-weary people, served by the Shimla Airport outside of town.
The airport, which sits 5,072 feet above sea level, was built by cutting the crest of a long hill in the region. The airport receives regular domestic flights from Indian Airlines and Jagson Airlines, but no international flights operate there.

The length of the runway is about 3,800 feet. The airport has no ground lighting facilities. It's surrounded by mountains and trecherous weather, including lots of rain. If a plane were to skid or miss the runway, it would probably crash into the mountains. I've seen flights come in that were unable to land.
Because of the tight conditions, only small aircraft like 18-seat Dornier 228s can operate from Shimla Airport. Aircraft such as military AN-32s or larger jets can't land here as they require much longer runways.

Short runways? Sounds familiar.

Related Stories:
· World's Most Dangerous Airports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of an ATR-42 at SLV: Wikimedia]

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