The runway at Madeira International Airport in Portugal is situated between the ocean and mountains, which demands exceptional precision when landing. Picture: Unsplash
Excitement quickly turned into disappointment for passengers on a British Airways’ flight after it failed to land at Madeira International Airport.
The airport on Madeira Island in Portugal is notoriously known as one of the most difficult and dangerous airports in the world to make a landing.
@noelia.gama watch till the end... failed landing attempt one of the most dangerous airports in the world #madeira ♬ original sound - Noelia Alves Gama
Traveller Noelia Alves Gama (@noelia.gama) took to social media platform, TikTok, to share a video of the nail biting moment as the flight narrowly missed an opportunity to touch down on the runway.
The video titled, “When you attempt to land on one of the most dangerous airports in the world #madeiraisland”, reveals the moment leading up to the failed attempt.
In Gama’s video, the aircraft slowly descends onto the runway, however, fails to land and takes off again.
Madeira International Airport has a short runway, which is surrounded by high mountains on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other making landings very risky business.
Strong winds also play a role in setting the conditions for landing.
@noelia.gama Replying to @gunner_ftbl ♬ original sound - Noelia Alves Gama
Giving an update on the flight and reassuring passengers, the captain said: “I’m sure many of you have seen on flight radar, in fact you have seen with ourselves that we did get very close to landing.
“A few aeroplanes have been able to land without trial today but its been very much in the lap of the gods. The success rate is less than 50% from what we’ve been understanding from the traffic control results.”
@noelia.gama Replying to @connorcpierce15 ♬ original sound - Noelia Alves Gama
In a separate video, Gama revealed that their flight was diverted to Porto Santo in Portugal. However, after 6 hours on the tarmac, the pilot flew them back to Heathrow Airport in England.
A non-stop flight from Heathrow to Madeira is three hours and fifty five minutes.
In the end, the flight did manage to land at the notorious airport on its second attempt the following day.