No matter how we search for the "most dangerous" airports in the world, these two airport names will appear consistently on all lists...then if we narrow down the search further to the "shortest and most dangerous" airports...we'll be guaranteed to have Lukla and Courchevel at very top of the lists. And, just for reference, here, below, are the History Channel's 10 most most "Extreme" Airports:

10. KSAN - San Diego, CA.
9. LPMA - Madeira, Portugal.
8. KEGE - Vail, CO.
7. LFLJ - Courchevel, France.
6. VHHH - Hong Kong Kai Tak.
5. LXGB - Gibraltar.
4. TNCM - St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles.
3. TFFJ - St. Barth's.
2. MHTG - Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
1. VNLK - Lukla, Nepal.

So, according to this list, Lukla is #1 and Courchevel is #7. Both airports have dangerously short (and steep) runways: Lukla (Tenzing-Hillary Airport) has a 1729 ft runway with a gradient of 12%, and is at 9334 ft elevation, subject to high-winds and cloud-covers. Courchevel Altiport has a 1762 ft runway at an unbelievable gradient of 18.5% with no go-around available due to the surrounding mountainous terrain!

[Side Note: BTW, Courchevel's incredibly challenging runway has been linked to (and (probably inaccurately?) credited with scenes for) a couple of James Bond films e.g. I found a lead to the incredible (and seemingly unrealistic) opening sequence of the film GoldenEye (Pierce Brosnan's debut as James Bond)....in any case, fact or not, if you're an aviation fan, you will probably enjoy that (physics-defying) stunt sequence, with the Pilatus Porter plane, in that opening roll...if interested, please search for "James Bond at Courchevel" to be led to the 1min:47sec video...]

Anyway, now back to our SIM....today, I took a few quick snapshots with my recently acquired Do-228 taking off from LFLJ and VNLK airports (do not recall making use of these airports in recent memory!). Please note, just for fun, and without a suitable choice of livery available, I've used Aurigny, one of my favorite liveries, for the Courchevel shots, and the (more appropriate) Tara Air livery at Lukla. Hope you enjoy these pictures. [The landings at these two airports are altogether a completely different (and much more difficult) challenge "even in the SIM"...I made one unsuccessful attempt today at Courchevel...so, forced to defer that exercise for future...🙂...]

Thanks for viewing! [LLH(Courchevel)/AS(Lukla)/Carenado(Do228)/REX]

nice! 

Thrilling...and scary!

John

Thanks both for the comments!

[And, John, yes it’s a bit “Thrilling and scary”...(in the SIM here too...🙂...can’t imagine the feeling in RL!). The plane always dips down a bit below the threshold after lift-off due to so short runways (you can see it in one of the shots at Courchevel), so you must be ready to set heading for the “escape route” to avoid the oncoming terrain....]

Fantastic Post!!

I must visit Courchevel again soon (sadly in-sim and not in real life!).A while ago I purchased LLH creation's version.

A quick hop from Chambery for a VERY expensive coffee and snack! 

Superb flying, P_7878 and the Do-228 is certainly up for the task 😊

On 11/30/2019 at 12:07 AM, P_7878 said:

The plane always dips down a bit below the threshold after lift-off due to so short runways

I still remember when flying with the Dash7 into and out of LFLJ that one couldn't really make the 'positive rate' call for gear retraction because the VSI showed -1000ft/min when selecting the gear up.

During the certification flights with one engine shut down at V1 (brake release) the Dash7 even ran out of runway! If I can find the video I'll upload it. 

Edited December 3, 20196 yr by FDEdev

Patrick, Mark, Bernd, and FDE: Appreciated the additional comments!

 

9 hours ago, FDEdev said:

I still remember when flying with the Dash7 into and out of LFLJ that one couldn't really make the 'positive rate' call for gear retraction because the VSI showed -1000ft/min when selecting the gear up.

During the certification flights with one engine shut down at V1 (brake release) the Dash7 even ran out of runway! If I can find the video I'll upload it. 

Wow...a "RL" Dash 7 memory from Courchevel - reserved only for the specially certified pilots! BTW, thanks for not finding faults with my flying here...Sometimes, I feel the real pilots around here give us (i.e. the imaginary pilots like I am) more respect than what we deserve...🙂..

And, yes, exactly right, I read that Dash 7s (and Twin Otters) have been regular users of the airport over the years, but they have since been phased out of use and smaller Cessnas and helicopters are now the main users...

And, Lukla, is another story...let us think about this for a bit: "Only experienced pilots, who've completed at least 100 short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) missions, have over one year of STOL experience in Nepal and have completed 10 missions into Lukla with a certified instructor pilot, are allowed to land at the airport!"

Kudos to to those pilots flying daily between Kathmandu and Lukla for a living...! What a far cry from what I've shown here (from the comfort of an armchair)...!

 

3 hours ago, P_7878 said:

And, Lukla, is another story...let us think about this for a bit: "Only experienced pilots, who've completed at least 100 short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) missions, have over one year of STOL experience in Nepal and have completed 10 missions into Lukla with a certified instructor pilot, are allowed to land at the airport!"

At Lukla it's more the weather and the altiude which makes it so difficult. Courchevel is difinitely more demanding concerning the runway and terrain. Especially on the original runway which was even shorter and steeper. After a few years and too many crashes they rotated the runway a few degrees.

Only seasoned instructors were allowed to land there and each year before the winter season started you had to re-qualify by doing 5 takeoffs and landings with the empty aircraft before carrying passengers.

 

Edited December 4, 20196 yr by FDEdev

Hi P_7878 - sorry for raising a 3 month old post of yours from the dead but i was wondering where did you get the Dornier Tara repaint? been looking for one everywhere. 

Thanks. 

7 hours ago, nohey1 said:

Hi P_7878 - sorry for raising a 3 month old post of yours from the dead but i was wondering where did you get the Dornier Tara repaint? been looking for one everywhere. 

Thanks. 

Nohey: Thanks for your interest and Welcome!...(3 months old is better than one year old...🙂..)

I'm not totally sure where I'd got it, but please check this file on flightsim.com (for P3D/FSX):

do-228_tara_air_nepal.zip

[BTW, I'd caught a Tara Air Do-228 lifting off, at Kathmandu airport, during my one (memorable) visit to that city (many many years ago)....hard to forget...]

Thank you, mate much appreciated. I'd like to got there myself at some point. Magical place for aviation.