Some Colorado airports are some of the most difficult in the U.S.
When you think of travel to and from Colorado, you most likely think of Denver International Airport. D.I.A. is huge and the security line can be 9 miles wrapped around the airport, but it surprisingly didn't make the national list for the most challenging U.S. airports. Which Colorado airports made it you ask? Aspen-Pitkin County and and Telluride Regional Airport. According to a recent Honeywell report,Pilots flying into Aspen-Pitkin County Airport require special training as they face a steep approach path and must use a separate navigation aid if they need to pursue a missed approach. Furthermore, pilots land one direction and take off from the opposite direction using a single runway due to surrounding, mountainous terrain. Telluride is the highest commercial airport in the U.S. Mountainous terrain creates an especially difficult approach for pilots landing in here."
Flying into either of these luxury ski towns seems like the easy route, but the mountain terrain makes it extremely difficult. In 2001, according to the Avaiation Safety Network, a Gulfstream charter jet airplane "hit a hill and then plunged across a 200 foot culvert between the hill and the airport before slamming into Shale Bluff, broke up and caught fire," resulting in the deaths of the 18 people on board.
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The flight that killed 18 people departed from Los Angeles International Airport.[/caption]
If you're planning on visiting Telluride or Aspen, the safest bet might be to drive OR make sure you have an experienced pilot. Looking to go some where else? Here are the other most challenging airports in the U.S.:
- Mammoth Yosemite Airport-Mammoth Lakes, California
- Laughlin/Bullhead International Airpot-Bullhead City, Arizona
- Bert Mooney Airport-Butte, Montana
- San Diego International Airport-San Diego, California
- Yellowstone Regional Airport-Cody, Wyoming
- Juneau International Airport-Juneau, Alaska
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport-Washington, D.C.
- LaGuardia Airport-Queens, New York
