Have you ever been to Tegucigalpa?

If you haven’t, let me tell you one thing: if you fly there it will be a landing you will never forget. It will be the first time an airplane takes a vertical inclination on such low altitude that you think the wing touches the houses below. Plus the stir of currents and the sudden immersion between hills will make the usual dangerous landing in Toncontín Intl. Airport in Honduras a unique experience. And to think that this time there wasn’t even turbulence involved.

The most chilling landing

Listed as the third most dangerous airport in the world, It has been subjected to scrutiny very often after several accidents occurred in the past 20 years. Since it was built in 1934 it was thought to serve less powerful air crafts that didn’t require very long runways.

The airport is located on an elevation of 1,005 meters and the runway is barely 2,163 meters long. As a comparison, Fiumicino runway is 3,900 meters and Santiago’s is 3,748 meters long sitting on an elevation of 474 meters.

It’s not just about the runway length but the fact that the airport is nestled in a cove of mountain terrains.

But that’s not it either! What’s even more special about this airport is that there is only one way in and one way out for airplanes, looking like this:

Disclaimer: the photos above do not even reflect the actual excitement nor the seat belt literally holding my whole weight as the plane bended to go through the mountains.