Tabletop runway
Runway on hill with steep edges
A tabletop runway is a runway that is located on the top of a plateau or hill with one or both ends adjacent to a steep precipice which drops into a deep gorge. This type of runway creates an optical illusion of being at the same level as the plains below, which requires a very precise visual approach by the pilot when instrument landing is not used or not available.
01List of tabletop runways
02Selected accidents and incidents
- On 19 November 1977, TAP Air Portugal Flight 425, a Boeing 727-200, landed long over the runway in Madeira Airport, plunged over a steep bank and then crashed hard onto a beach, killing 131 of 164 people on board. In response, the runway was dramatically extended and got several upgrades in the following decades.
- The configuration of Mangalore Airport has been cited as a factor in the Air India Express Flight 812 crash on 22 May 2010. The Boeing 737-800 operated by Air India Express overshot the runway threshold touchdown area, failed to stop, went out of control, and rolled down a steep hillside, killing 158 of 166 people on board.
- On 25 May 2011, an Embraer Phenom 100, N224MD, operated by JetSuite overran the runway during landing at the Sedona Airport. The pilots approached with an excessive airspeed, which resulted in a failure to stop the airplane before overrunning the runway. The airplane came to the rest upright on an approximately 40-degree incline at approximately 117.6 metres (386 ft) below the departure end of runway 21. The first officer and one passenger suffered serious injuries.
- On 27 May 2017, Summit Air Flight 409 stalled on final approach to Tenzing-Hillary Airport, subsequently crashing 120 metres (400 ft) below the threshold of runway 06. The cargo flight descended too low on approach, upon which pilots suddenly increased the angle of attack at the low speed. The aircraft stalled as a result of excessive drag and impacted the sloping terrain 40 metres (130 ft) short of the runway.
- On 7 August 2020, an Air India Express Flight 1344, a Boeing 737-800 (as part of Vande Bharat Mission) skidded off the tabletop runway at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, killing 21 of the 190 people on board, including the captain and co-pilot.
- On 28 January 2026, at around 9:12 a.m., a business jet carrying the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar, crashed and exploded on its second landing attempt at Baramati Airport, killing him and four others. The aircraft involved was VT-SSK, a Learjet 45XR operated by VSR Aviation.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Tabletop runway”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Saba airport.jpg by Pia L at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Madeira (2).jpg by Bingar1234, CC BY-SA 4.0
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