World's Most Dangerous Airports: Pictures And Videos That Will Make You Want To Visit the Airports, But Only From A Distance

In a tragic accident, more than 50 air passengers are feared dead after a US-Bangla Airlines aircraft crashed and caught fire at Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). TIA Spokesperson Prem Nath Thakur said that the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, which had 67 passengers and four crew members in all caught fire after  The plane, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, with 67 passengers and four crew members caught fire after it floundered and careened off the runway while landing and crashed onto a football ground which is near the airport. There are some airports which are inherently dangerous and pose a risk to both passengers and the aircraft. We profile the world's most dangerous airports for you, we bet you will love seeing them, but only from a distance, so tighten the seat belts and get ready for the journey:

1. Lukla Airport, Nepal

The Lukla Airport in Nepal has no artificial lights and even electricity is scarce. It's one of the main airports for those visiting Mount Everest. There are also no signals available and sometimes a pilot has to take a call on their own regarding the landing of the flight. It is also one of the highest airports in the world.

2. Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten

This airport is famous for the beach located just near the airport. The runway is comparatively shorter as compared to the other airports experiencing flight landings of equal or bigger planes.  Initially built for smaller planes, the demand by tourists and higher footfall has forced the entry of larger aircraft here.

3. Paro Airport in Bhutan, Himalayan Mountains

Ranked as one of the most dangerous airports in the world, this runway is surrounded by 5,500-meter peaks with a runway 1981 meters long. The landing requires a fast decline in height that bigger planes need to make which makes it dangerous. Have a look at the landing video:

No doubt that many rank it as the most dangerous airport in the world. And if that doesn't convince you then this piece of information will: Only 8 pilots in the world are qualified to land on this airstrip. Phew!

4. Madeira Airport, Portugal

Look at that beautiful airport. But the only thing that can challenge the beauty of this airport is the level of danger it holds for landing of the flights. Madeira Airport is perhaps one of the rare airports in the world that got a runway platform built as a result of expansion. The space available for landing is really less when compared to what it should be as it is between the steep cliffs and the shores of the ocean. Sounds poetic, doesn't it? The runway holds up and withstands shock loading that is endured by the 180 plus columns that hold the runway.

5. MCAS Futenma, Okinawa

The Navy and the Marine Corps rank it as the most dangerous airport in the world. This airport is located in a US Marine Corps Air Station in Okinawa, Japan. High flights land at this airport, US military terms it as "strategically important". The reason why this airport is so dangerous is because of the huge human settlement that the flights have to navigate that is just near the landing strip.

Here is the video of the most dangerous airport landings and airstrips from around the world:

We hope that you enjoyed the pictures and videos in the article. However, it is very sad that about 50 people have lost their lives after the crash in Nepal. We can only pray for their families and hope that aviation industry and governments across the world try and make air travel safe, because no amount of adventure or daredevilry is worth even a single human life. Every life is precious and travelling should be a transportation necessity, not a do or die battle.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2018 09:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).