Relive one of the world's great aerial adventures!
Located almost in the center of densely-populated Kowloon in Hong Kong, Kai Tak Airport forced pilots to make a sharp right turn at an altitude of under 700 feet -- just above Kowloon's high-rise apartment blocks.
Passengers would see the steep mountains with which Hong Kong abounds. Then came the sharp right turn and banking of the aircraft. Finally, they would look out the windows and could almost touch the billboards covered with huge Chinese characters as the plane rapidly made its final descent.
The airport was closed on July 5, 1998, but the nostalgic memories remain!
Roller coaster retrospective on Kai Tak Airport
Planes over Hong Kong Landing Kai Tak Airport 1998 香港 啟德機場
This is a compilation of my short snippet videos short from Kowloon city under the approach path to Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport in 1998. They were uploaded individually 2 years ago, but are much easier to watch this way. http://www.kaitak.tv
Runtime: 108
3160311 views
6249 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Why I Loved Kai Tak Airport (1)
-- I Lamont, SimonWorld
China Air 747 Lands with a Bounce at Kai Tak
Why I Loved Kai Tak Airport (2)
Pity that as a pre-teen, I didn't have the foresight to use the family SLR and take some photos for posterity! Likewise on the times my family and I flew in and out of Kai Tak.
-- Jonathan Stanley, SimonWorld
Japan Airlines Crosswind Landing at Kai Tak
A Top Ten Crosswind Landing Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport 1998 Japan Airlines Boeing 747
Filmed from the checkerboard used for the approach into Kai Tak. Overshoots and then lines it up just to get caught in the wind...again. Unedited. You can hear another enthusiast in the background with a scanner. A Japan Air Lines JAL Boeing 747.
Runtime: 82
5755603 views
2884 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Why I Loved Kai Tak Airport (3)
You could also meet your friends and colleagues at Kai Tak Airport, then take a taxi and be at a business appointment in a few minutes. Not like now: the new Chek Lap Kok airport seems hours away from downtown Hong Kong.
-- B. D. Wagner, Fabulous Philippines
Boeing 747 - inside/outside split view of Kai Tak landing
Photos of Kai Tak Airport - My Top Picks
- SimonWorld - Kai Tak Landing Photos
- This page has absolutely stunning photos by top photographers of landings at Kaitak Airport. The photos take a while to download, but the wait is worth it.
- Landing in Kai Tak
- A series of photos from Eric Coeckelberghs.
"Eric Coeckelberghs is an avid aviation enthusiast who, in 1991, had the chance to fly - jumpseat - into world-renowned Kai Tak airport. Between his own photographs of the landing and his entire trip, and his telling of the adventure, we get a feel for what it was like heading towards the most famous checkerboard in the world..." - Kai Tak Photos
- A bunch of photos, group by themes, from the last two years of Kai Tak's operations. The photographer, Paul Ashford, was an Australian who worked as an air traffic controller at Kai Tak.
- The Final Chapter of of Kai Tak
- Lawrence Chiu is a photographer whose speciality is aviation. In these pages he documents the final days of Kai Tak.
Kai Tak - July 1998 - IGS RWY13 and ILS RWY31 with A330 jumpseat
HongKong Kaitak IGS RWY13 and ILS RWY31 with A330 jumpseat!
Taken in July, 1998, just the transformation week that Kaitak closed and CLK open! IGS RWY13 and ILS RWY31 with A330 jumpseat video... if you didn't see Kaitak personally, HERE IT IS!
Runtime: 232
41426 views
51 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Cockpit View IGS Kai Tak (Old Hong Kong Airport)
"Your first landing is hair-raising... but it's ALWAYS breathtaking!"
A Bit of Kai Tak History
- History of Kai Tak
- Phil Parker, formerly Air Traffic Controller, Kai Tak, tells the story of Kai Tak over the 70 years of its existence and give lots of inside info and stories that only someone like he would know.
- Kai Tak Airport - facts, figures, trivia
- This Wikipedia article gives a rundown on Kai Tak Airport in the period 1925-1998. Includes an interesting section "Accidents and other miscellaneous bad landings".
747 crazy landing at Kai Tak
747 crazy landing at Kai Tak - Why did it happen?
An extra 2 seconds of video inserted to explain all!
747 crazy landing at Kai Tak - Why did it happen? (Serious Commentary)
Why?
Because destabilised approaches at low altitude on short final are NOT a good idea in any aircraft, and are a leading cause of accidents. In a heavy, wide-bodied jet, like the B744, they are almost certain to result in damage to the aircraft and injury to those on board."
Read more at: Boeing 747 Extreme Landing
Books on Dangerous Places and Adventure Travel
Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places: 5th Edition (Robert Young Pelton the World's Most Dangerous Places)
Amazon Price: $15.63 (as of 12/11/2009) 
The Hard Way: Stories of Danger, Survival, and the Soul of Adventure
Amazon Price: $15.25 (as of 12/11/2009)
Points Unknown: The Greatest Adventure Writing of the Twentieth Century (Outside Books)
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/11/2009)
Alitalia nearly crashes at Kai Tak
Books on Air Disasters
The Killing Zone: How & Why Pilots Die
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 12/11/2009)
Air Disaster (Vol. 1)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/11/2009)
Air Disaster (Vol. 2)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/11/2009)
China Airlines crash at Kai Tak - Aug. 22, 1999
Amazingly, almost everyone aboard survived
china airline crash in the Hong Kong airport
informations from "aviation-safety.net" and "Civil Aviation Department of Hong Kong" China Airlines flight 642 departed Bangkok for a flight to Taipei via Hong Kong. Weather in the Hong Kong area was very poor with a severe tropical storm ('Sam') 50km NE of the airport and gale force winds and thunderstorms. Extra fuel was carried, because the crew intended to continue to Taipei, depending on weather at Hong Kong on arrival. Before the arrival of flight 642 four flights carried out missed approaches, five planes diverted and 12 planes landed successfully. Weather information obtained by the crew at 18:06 reported a 300deg wind at 35 knots and an RVR of 650m in heavy rain. The flight crew then prepared for a runway 25L ILS approach. Landing reference speed was calculated to be 152 knots and the captain (pilot-in-command) would fly the approach at 170 knots and would continue to land depending on a wind check on finals. At 18:41, while flying the runway 25L ILS approach, weather was reported to the crew being 1600m visibility in the touchdown zone, wind 320deg/25 knots gusting to 33 knots. The aircraft was then cleared to land. At an altitude of 700 feet prior to touchdown a further wind check was passed to the crew: 320deg/28 knots gusting to 36 knots. Maximum crosswind component limit for the aircraft was 24 knots. The pilot-in-command continued with the approach, disconnected the autopilot but left auto throttle engaged. The MD-11, with a weight very close to the maximum landing weight permitted, stabilized slightly low on the glide slope. At 50 feet above the runway, upon power reduction to flight idle, the airspeed decreased from 170 to 152 knots. An attempt was made to flare in a slightly right wing down (less than 4 deg) attitude. The aircraft landed hard on its right main gear and the no. 3 engine touched the runway. The right main gear separated and the right wing separated. The MD-11 then rolled inverted as it skidded off the runway in flames. It came to rest on a grass area next to the runway, 1100m from the runway threshold. The right wing was found on a taxiway 90m from the nose of the plane. The crash sequence in this case bears similarities to a Fedex MD-11 which also flipped upside down on landing at Newark. Full version : http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19990822-0 Report of the Board of Review on the Accident to Boeing MD-11 B-150 at Hong Kong International Airport on 22 August 1999 bu CADHK: http://www.cad.gov.hk/english/n1.html http://www.cad.gov.hk/english/n2.html Wikipedia english ver.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_642 Wikipedia chinese ver.中文版: http://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF%E8%88%AA%E7%A9%BA642%E8%99%9F%E7%8F%AD%E6%A9%9F&variant=zh-hk
Runtime: 19
192922 views
222 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Great shots of planes landing at Kai Tak (one landed in the Harbour)
Airport Press Conference
Kai Tak had a good safety record - but what happens when something goes wrong?
Airplane! Press Conference (transcript of above video clip)
Chicago Flight Control head, Steve McCroskey (played by Lloyd Bridges) calls a press conference during an airplane crisis
Johnny: NO THANKS!
Towergy: Chief, these reporters won't leave without a statement.
Reporter: How much longer can those passengers hold out?
MCrosky: Ah, half an hour or less.
Reporter: Who's flying the plane?
MCrosky: One of the passengers. But, he's an experienced Air Force pilot who flew during the war, so there's no cause for alarm. . . [To Johnny] Here, take over.
Reporter: What kind of plane is it?
Johnny: Oh its a big pretty white plane with red stripes,curtains in the window and wheels. It looks like a big tylenol.
Reporter: Okay boys, lets get some pictures. (Take photos off of wall . . .)
( Various reports from around the world are shown )
Airline! (Parody of Disaster Movie)
Airplane! (Don't Call Me Shirley! Edition)
The persons and events in this film are fictitious - fortunately! A masterpiece of off-the-wall comedy, Airplane! features Robert Hays as an ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning; Julie Hagerty as his girlfriend/stewardess/co-pilot; and a cast of all-stars including Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar... and more. Their hilarious high jinks spoof airplane disaster flicks, religious zealots, television commercials, romantic love... the list whirls by in rapid succession. And the story races from one moment of zany fun to the next.
Amazon Price: $9.49 (as of 12/11/2009)
Another Great View of Hong Kong: the Star Ferry
More Aerial Thrills and Spills!
Stunt pilots, balloonists, skydivers: Some people can't get enough!
- Stunt pilots out for a spin
- Amazing aerial acrobatics! They make it look so easy. Are they true flying aces... or haven't they just heard about the law of gravity?
- Early aeronautics heroes
- Early balloonists and parachutists risked life and limb every time they went up. Here are some of their true stories (with lots of pictures).
Have something to say about this lens or about Kai Tak Airport?
Do it here!
-
Reply
- RunwayModels RunwayModels Apr 24, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
- Oh yeah! Kai Tak was the BEST! Some of the best crosswind landings ever!
www.squidoo.com/runwaymodelz
Cheers,
Ted
-
Reply
- Liam_Tohms Liam_Tohms Feb 6, 2009 @ 9:42 am
- This is a great lens, it is fun to watch those approaches over and over again. I'm a private pilot in the UK and have created a Flying and Aviation group to collate all the quality Squidoo lenses on this subject. Why don't you come and join us at http://www.squidoo.com/groups/flying
-
Reply
- Mar 10, 2008 @ 10:41 pm
- Hong Kong is beautiful and so is the Kai Tak airport. For the business savvy, some of their employees may be stationed in Hong Kong, and it would be a lot more convenient to set up a conference call bridge to set up calls. It's a cost efficient way to hold meetings with employees wherever they may be in the US or around the world, including Hong Kong. Nice lens!
-
Reply
- gwkell gwkell Feb 28, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
- Thanks for the great lens. I'd like more information about Adventure Travel
-
Reply
- maxy maxy Feb 26, 2008 @ 8:09 am
- Useful lens, great work! Hope you check out my phone card lens!
-
Reply
- thomasz thomasz Feb 13, 2008 @ 12:05 am
- Nice lens. Great info.
-
Reply
- James_ORear James_ORear Feb 1, 2008 @ 1:39 pm
- Fantastic, a spotter's dream that sadly only comes to life in simulators anymore. Thanks for sowing us what it was really like!!!
-
Reply
- driewe driewe Dec 18, 2007 @ 10:36 am
- Wonderful lens
Travel Insurance: Be In Safe Hands Wherever You Go
-
Reply
- SpicySun SpicySun Nov 12, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
- Hi! Great lens! Lots of cool info. Please visit our delicious lens Spicy Sun Dips and Rubs! You'll be glad you did.....your friend, Spicy!
-
Reply
- SatelliteGuy SatelliteGuy Nov 9, 2007 @ 12:30 am
- Interested topic - a true 5 stars lens for sure! Do check out my website about Dish Network as well!
-
Reply
- sexmythsexposed sexmythsexposed Oct 29, 2007 @ 8:52 pm
- Hi,interesting reading in your lenses, Blast from the Past...thanks for your comments on our lens sexmythsexposed
btw...when you're in the neighbourhood drop by our blog www.sexmythsexposed.com/blog and while you're there, you may like to get a free subscription to "Secret Sex Diaries"
-
Reply
- Christopher_Scott Christopher_Scott Oct 27, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
- I like your youtube videos. Very cool.
-
Reply
- irishlass irishlass Oct 27, 2007 @ 12:10 pm
- wow! great lens
-
Reply
- kathysart kathysart Oct 1, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
- ~~*~~
Great lens1 5 HUGE stars! I did not know of Kai Tak.. I need to get out more! ha!
Unlock Creativity|Critical Thinking Creative Writing Active Reading=Great Art
http://www.squidoo.com/createart/
Aloha, Kathy
-
Reply
- ebizsalez ebizsalez Sep 28, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
- wow! thats awesome! i guess :) i always wanted to go to Hong kong but now iam thinking twice about it. Maybe i will take a boat from China :)
from fellow lens: bigsaveontravel
-
Reply
- dc_zhen dc_zhen Sep 23, 2007 @ 7:40 am
- Hi Blast from the Past,
I love your lens! And I also like the concept that you have for your lens... makes for a very interesting and informative read. 5 stars! p.s.- thanks for coming to my lens earlier and for the very kind words! You rock too! cheers..
-
Reply
- ilovemusic ilovemusic Sep 12, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
- I remember Kai Tak too. I was lucky enough to live the adventure of landing there about ten times, although I don't how the locals put up with the bone-shaking environment.
Explore related pages
V/Stol aircraft- This lens is all about V/stol (Vertical & Short Takeoff and Landing) aircraft. V...
Continental Underground Travel - of the fantastic kind!- Underground is a series of fantastical underground rail networks (after Harry Be...
Hong Kong- Hong Kong - "Asia's World City", the Gateway to China, where East...
Hong Kong Island- The Chinese characters for Hong Kong (pronounced "Heung Gong" in Cantonese) mean...
Kowloon - Across the Harbor from Hong Kong- The Chinese characters for "Kowloon" represent the words, "Nine Dragons". Kowloo...
Hawaiian Deep Sea Water- Hawaiian deep sea water is extracted from a source 3000 ft. below the ocean surf...
