Welcome to Gadling’s feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!
Mike asks an interesting question:
Hi Kent, I know you’ve probably seen the video going around on YouTube of the 757 landing at Tegucigalpa, and also a great video of the landing from the cockpit. I was wondering if landing at a challenging airport like that involves any special requirements. Is the Captain the only one allowed to make that landing for example?
Great question, Mike. Especially in light of the recent accident of a TACA A320 that overran the end of the runway killing five of the 135 people on board. As a result of this accident, the Tegucigalpa airport is restricted to aircraft with 42 seats or fewer. For the next two months, San Pedro Sula will pick up the slack until the Soto Cano Air Base is ready for commercial traffic.
Prior to this accident, our airline required a few things for pilots going into TGU. First, we use computer based training aids, complete with the local ATC audio along with a detailed layout of the potential hazards and the technique needed to safely fly the approach and landing.
Next, the captain had to go fly there with a check airman (instructor) who would sit in the right seat for the checkout. The captain was required to make a landing on runway 02. If the other runway was in use, the check airman would come back to TGU with the captain on another trip.
Also, the captain was required to fly into TGU within the past 180 days. If the pilot hadn’t landed there in within 180 days, a check airman would again be required before they could fly there again.
Co-pilots must have observed one takeoff and landing there from the jumpseat before flying a trip to TGU. And yes, Captains are required to make all landings into TGU. The only such airport we operate into with that requirement. Both pilots must have at least 75 hours of flight time in the particular type of airplane as well.
We have seven cities in Central and South America that require special qualifications. Other airports may require varying levels of training and qualifications, but none are as extreme as the Tegucigalpa, Honduras example.
It’s easy to see why these requirements exist. Those two videos show just how challenging the TGU approach to runway 02 can be. The runway is 6132 feet (1869 m) and the airport sits at an elevation of 3300 feet, which makes the approach speed a bit faster. To give you an idea, the Laguardia airport is 7000 feet long with a field elevation of 22 feet. So Tegucigalpa was likely the most challenging in our system.
Unfortunately, I’ve never had the opportunity to fly there. And now it looks like most large jets will be prevented from landing there, so I doubt I’ll ever get the chance.
Finally, as a side note, the person on the ground who took the video of the landing emailed me a link to it just a few days after he uploaded it. I looked up the pilots and sent them the link as well. Later that month the captain and co-pilot met this cameraman, a flying enthusiast who’s now training to be a pilot, for dinner. He also provided the pictures above and below for this post. Thanks for the photos and the video, Enriques!
Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for next Friday’s Plane Answers feature.