Pilots, passengers and civilians on the ground, everyone gets thrills when flights land on these runways across the world.
Gibraltar International Airport, Gibraltar
This airport services the British overseas territory of Gibraltar on the southern coast of Spain. What's dangerous in this airport is that a four-lane public highway called the Winston Churchill Boulevard dissects the runway that planes use to take off or land on at the airport. The road is closed off whenever an aircraft needs to land or take-off.
McMurdo Station, Antarctica
Ice and snow are fickle elements of nature and that is what thrills pilots when landing on a runway made completely of ice. The Ice Runway near McMurdo Station, a military base in Antarctica is formed of white ice, recrystallised snow, starting from a strong 12 inches in depth - so cracking is the least (or not) of anyone's worries. The specific landing gear, timing, winds and slipperiness of ice are what makes this runway so dangerous.
Princess Juliana International Airport, Sint Maarten
This is one of the most infamous runways in the world with planes coming down to scary low heights on the Dutch side of the St. Martin's island, while tourists sunbathe on the nearby Maho beach. However, Irma - the hurricane that hit parts of America in August and September, beat a path of destruction through the island, destroying a lot of the airport's facilities.
Courchevel Airport, France
The airfield services a resort in the French Alps and has one of the shortest runways in the world at 525 metres, which is the least of the dangers in landing here. The runway is also steep at a gradient of 18.6 per cent and is surrounded by icy mountains - one small miscalculation of time or distance is all that's needed for an accident. Visibility is almost nil during foggy conditions and pilots have to be specially certified to be allowed to land here.
