BA gives MailOnline lessons in a flight simulator about landing a plane at two VERY tricky airports

How difficult is it to land an airliner at two of the most dangerous airports in the world? MailOnline finds out... in a state-of-the-art British Airways flight simulatorTed Thornhill was invited to BA's flight training center near Heathrow Airport There he sat in a simulator state-of-the-art A320 flight trainHis instructor? Captain Ross Lynch. Task? Landing in Innsbruck and Madeira READ MORE: Boeing cargo plane cut tree while taking off
By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor
Posted: 2:05 PM BST, April 15, 2023 | Update: 4.45pm BST, 15th April 2023

Innsbruck Airport in Austria and Madeira Airport are both regulars on the lists of the world's most breathtaking landings for airplane passengers. And for good reason.
Innsbruck Airport is surrounded by towering 9,000 foot mountains and pilots sometimes have to deal with the "Foehn wind" , which can create strong turbulence. near the runway.
Planes landing and taking off at Madeira Airport, meanwhile, cannot enter and exit directly due to the rocky headlands at either end of the runway, so it must bank dramatically on arrival and quickly take to the sea after taking off. And like Innsbruck, planes can be buffeted by thundering gusts in the moments before they land. You've probably seen the videos.
The challenges associated with operating aircraft at these two airports mean that only captains can take off there and land there (and even then, only after additional training). So how difficult is that in today's modern aircraft?
I had a rare opportunity to find out. The carrier invited me into one of its state-of-the-art Airbus A320 flight simulators at its flight training center near Heathrow airport for landing and take-off lessons in Innsbruck and in Madeira. My instructor was C...

Travel Apr 15, 2023 0 24 Add to Reading List

BA gives MailOnline lessons in a flight simulator about landing a plane at two VERY tricky airports

How difficult is it to land an airliner at two of the most dangerous airports in the world? MailOnline finds out... in a state-of-the-art British Airways flight simulatorTed Thornhill was invited to BA's flight training center near Heathrow Airport There he sat in a simulator state-of-the-art A320 flight trainHis instructor? Captain Ross Lynch. Task? Landing in Innsbruck and Madeira READ MORE: Boeing cargo plane cut tree while taking off

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Posted: 2:05 PM BST, April 15, 2023 | Update: 4.45pm BST, 15th April 2023

Innsbruck Airport in Austria and Madeira Airport are both regulars on the lists of the world's most breathtaking landings for airplane passengers. And for good reason.

Innsbruck Airport is surrounded by towering 9,000 foot mountains and pilots sometimes have to deal with the "Foehn wind" , which can create strong turbulence. near the runway.

Planes landing and taking off at Madeira Airport, meanwhile, cannot enter and exit directly due to the rocky headlands at either end of the runway, so it must bank dramatically on arrival and quickly take to the sea after taking off. And like Innsbruck, planes can be buffeted by thundering gusts in the moments before they land. You've probably seen the videos.

The challenges associated with operating aircraft at these two airports mean that only captains can take off there and land there (and even then, only after additional training). So how difficult is that in today's modern aircraft?

I had a rare opportunity to find out. The carrier invited me into one of its state-of-the-art Airbus A320 flight simulators at its flight training center near Heathrow airport for landing and take-off lessons in Innsbruck and in Madeira. My instructor was C...