The Story Of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Hong Kong was settled long before aircraft and air travel existed. Nestled comfortably between the South China Sea and the hilly terrain of the Chinese coastline, Hong Kong was already a densely populated area before airports were a foundational aspect of large urban centers. Before its current airport on Chek Lap Kok island, there was Kai Tak. With its runway given the nickname “Kai Tak Heart Attack”, the airport was well known among pilots and passengers for its hair raising approach.
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I live in Hong Kong and flew in and out of Kai Tak countless times. Night flights were particularly memorable - the cabin lights would be dimmed, glasses of Johnnie Walker handed out to passengers. I always chose a window seat on the right hand side. The view out would be pitch black, the plane would make a sharp right, and then a million lights and the sight of HK Island came into view. I knew I was home.
This sounds lovely 🥰
I am not old enough:(
That sounds magical!
your description is amazing. viewing hong kong from above with glass of johnnie walker must be a great experience. u must had flew in business or first class. i remember cx doesn't serve johnnie walker in economy.
@@andylam73 thank you. I was remembering flights on PanAm first class. My father knew a lovely man named Johnson Yip, who was head of operations for PanAm here in HK, and he bumped me up to first class.
I remember flying into Kai Tak, with the airplane weaving between and flying above the highrises, and I could see a family preparing for dinner through an apartment window! It is a combination of good pilot skills and luck that no airplane had ever crashed into a highrise during landing or takeoff at Kai Tak.
Pilots had to have a specific training to be allowed to take off from and land on Kai Tak.
CI605:
@@cytlrxs + caac flight 301(1988), heavylift l-100 crash(1994)
I saw that too, people going on with their daily life just meters away, and i actually was in an airplane, mind boggling stuff
I miss Kai Tak Airport. When I was in primary school, commute between home and school was by bus. The bus route passed the round about at the Kowloon City, the traffic jam gave me the time to spot aircraft landing right over my head. It was fun spotting a B747 took a sharp turn to land from the north. I learnt different airlines and aircraft during my primary school years.
That's a fun way to learn eh mate! Cheers & mabuhay from tropical Philippines!
I live in Hong Kong
Haha pan-am go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Great way to learn. My experience is similar in mumbai when I used to visit my granny and our house was probably 20 seconds away from the landing runway . But nowhere as close as Kai tak !
I born after Kai Tak airport close
Early 90's, I remember looking through apartment windows and seeing people watching TV.
LMAO
@@nathroxer3134 A few passengers in the plane looking out of the window would need new underwear rather than L-their-AO. HAHA
@@josephcheng5949 XD
@@polishhollywood hello
Me too, extraordinary landing....
I passed through Kai Tak several times in the 1980s. My main recollections were looking out the window and into apartments at the same level on final approach, and about the same time getting a waft of Hong Kong's aroma coming into the aircraft. I was flying Cathay Pacific between Australia and the UK, having a few days in Hong Kong each time. All extremely enjoyable. I remember being able to drop my checked bags at the airport about 6 hours before leaving for London one trip, taking the train and ferry back into Hong Kong for an early dinner, then back to the airport. Late dinner on the plane heading to Bahrain, with plenty of wine and cognac afterwards! Delightful travel memories.
When I was a child, I lived near Kai Tak Airport. I remember our house was directly below the landing path of the plane. Every time the plane was about to land, the house would shake and the aircraft roared so loudly that we couldn't hear each other's speech or any sound on the TV. When I looked up, I could even touch the landing gear. Those were my wonderful memoirs of Kai Tak Airport when I was a kid.
I wish I'd be there
Those were the days!
I remember they use to close the main road with barriers to allow planes to take off in the 1950's !
Me too, I have the same memories! When we would fly back to HK we could spot our own apartment on approach.
Flew into there once, as we were coming in on final, I vividly remember looking into one apartment, seeing a large TV screen in one of the apartments, and seeing the opening splash to ESPN's "This is Sportscenter". Being able to read those characters in the flash as we flew by, was amazing.
I first flew into Kai-Tak as a young DC-8 Captain in 1990. My First Officer had flown the checkerboard approach a couple of times so he was good help for my first time. I never got to fly a 747 into Kai-Tak as it closed about the time I transitioned to the 747. Many great memories for sure. I miss my Hong Kong layovers.
Don't you have to be certified specifically to fly into HK? Same as Mexico city airport.
The only two airports pilots need special licences.
I was right seat on DC-10 when I flew into the old Kai Tak. It was Captain only landing. Have flown into the new airport, now as captain, but it doesn’t have the charm nor the WOW! factor like Kai Tak.
@@timypp2894 Definitely not the ONLY two, if you consider Paro and Lukla, among many others surely, as well... But maybe the only two among major international airports for large cosmopolitan cities.
As a former flight attendant flying to HK very often, I really miss Kai Tak Airport. It does not only bring back memories of some heart attack-like approaches and landings, but also memories of many wonderful layovers in Hong Kong.
Flew in to Kai Tak several times. My favorite memory was a night landing where we flew the reverse approach--flying up Victoria Harbor south to north at 200+ MPH, seeing all of the bright lights on both sides of us (and above us, too!), then a very sharp left turn onto the runway. Definitely an "E Ticket" ride!
Who else wish they were born during the golden era of aviation?
Why?
@@polydorosvogiatzis5120 mmh I mean if you were a pilot or FA you will get alot of respect even if your not in japan probally
Me.....i feel i really missed alot but atleast i am in a generation that saw the biggest commercial plane ever built....you have got it the A380 baby✈✈
@Timothy Healey Nice my dude just imagine telling your kids that.(Also are you planning to be a pilot just curious?)
@Timothy Healey nice family history
My first international flight was on a Catahy Pacific B747 from Philippines to Hong Kong in 1996. Landing into Kai Tak was magnificent with the plane flying really close to the building. I remember so vividly noticing the plane close to the buildings while on the approach to the runway and then the feeling of relief and excitement of passeengers aboard the plane when the plane touches down.
I remember flying in and out on Kai Tak in the 80s, amazing experience to see the apartments so close on the way in.
I also remember a very full Cathay 747 going a L-O-N-G way down the runway on takeoff and passengers looking at each other and saying, "shouldn't we be up by now?"
Must have been several tons of Duty Free on board...
Phil Branagan I had a similar experience in the late ‘90’s sitting on the jump seat behind the Captain on a fully loaded 747-400 departing out of Frankfurt one evening. Those red lights at the far end of the runway were very, very wide before we finally rotated! Must be a 747 thing.
I lived in HK for a couple of years too in 96 & 97 and flew out into the region almost every week for work. I loved sitting on the right hand side widow seat and looking into all those buildings when the plane banked hard right. I lived at 18 Old Peak Road on the Island just a nice walk down the hill to Lai Kwai Fong on the cobble stone street for happy hour each day. Amazing times.
In 1993 my father was an engineer working for a UK company that was building computer labs at the new Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. I was 30 at the time. He invited me to fly there and spend a week with him. I was not aware of Kai Tak airport or it's checkerboard approach, and you could never know if it would be used until you got there -- it depended on the direction of the wind. We were in the forward bulkhead of a Cathay Pacific 747. It looked like we were descending into dense buildings. At a few hundred feet up the plane banked hard to the right. Being on the right side of the plane, I looked out and into the windows of apartments. It made my heart skip a beat. We seemed to fall right into the buildings, but suddenly the plane rolled out of its turn and onto the runway for a smooth landing. I spent a day of my trip sitting at checkerboard hill watching the approaches and walking the neighborhoods below the final approach. It was a great experience.
Kai Tak was my Go-To airport from 95-97. The shock of seeing people having tea and playing Mah Jong through their windows as we wizzed by at hundreds of miles per hour had me clenching a specific orifice as it’s never been clenched before. Multiple flights in and out of HKG cured me of any fear of death I once harboured. Thanks for sharing this video.
How can you not show the photo of the Concorde landing at Kai Tak??
Two icons together, missed opportunity.
There probably wasn't anything available that was clearly free of copyright
@@chrislohphotography th-cam.com/video/1s7Q-Z2PGQw/w-d-xo.html
@@dr.hishamabdulmajeed6951 That's not a video that is copyright free. For example this video - th-cam.com/video/VRP_jkjOTC8/w-d-xo.html - if you look in the description, you'll see "License Creative Commons Attribution License (reuse allowed)"
Concorde at Kai Tak was probably the single rarest plane at Kai Tak - more rare than both the 777 and US military aircraft - because to have Concorde fly to Hong Kong you needed to book Concorde as a charter flight.
www.flickr.com/photos/darylchapman/4413021929/in/album-72157606589877614/
I remember sitting in the cockpit of a British Airways 747 for landing into Kai Tak, was an absolutely wonderful experience! Sadly both gone now 😢
All three things you've mentioned in your comment are gone now, to be honest... 😢 (Unless you are a pilot or crew member yourself riding in the jumpseat.)
There was something magical about flying into Kai Tak, my first time was July 1979, in and out many times after that, until it’s closure, the approach was fantastic, so exhilarating! But strangely enough, what I remember most of all was the smell of the harbour filling the cabin!! 😁😂
I flew into Kai Tak a few times and was always amazed at the proximity of apartment buildings. That last turn on approach was a spectacular view.
It was a rather extraordinary experience of landing in Kai Tak. I remembering seeing people eating their lunch in their apartment from my airplane window.
I flew into Kai Tak a couple of times and enjoyed the "mach loop" approach. I can also remember sitting on Lion Rock looking down on the planes as they came in.
Landed there 3 times before it closed. Twice at night, and one daytime approach.
It was the first time I've ever heard a captain explain the landing before the approach,
to ease the passenger's minds. Even at night, I could see people in the windows of their apartments
as we flew over the buildings. I remember the 747 that crashed into the harbor in 1993.
We flew into HK just after the typhoon passed. The 747 was still in the harbor when we got there; its tail removed,
so it wouldn't impede departing aircraft. Quite a sight.
Flew in/out of Kai Tak regularly and often in the 80s and 90s. I was on the last CX departure (CX254) out of Kai Tak on the night it closed - I still have the presentation plaque. I was lucky enough to land in three times in the jump seat, once in a 1011, and twice in 747-400s. Believe me, if you thought it was scary as you sat in the cabin, it was a whole lot scarier up front! I was back into CLK a week after it opened and have continued regularly since. I loved Kai Tak but I don’t really miss it now!
I also experienced that landing in the jump seat, an amazing experience.
I flew into Kai Tak back in 1996 on a Cathay Pacific 747 out of LAX. Flying between buildings was first for me. Going back out to LAX a week later was crazy. The pilot rotated when he ran out of runway. Once in a lifetime experience.
Lucky you! 31 departure was rare but even more challenging than 13 approach.
Excellent summary of the Kai Tak airport. It’s an example of doing your best in difficult circumstances, in this case, the pilots and the people who live under the flight path.
In 1977, landed at Kai Tak from Bangkok on a Pan Am 747. That was an amazing approach and landing - right above the rooftops before setting down on the runway..
I landed there back in the 90’s and still remember the sense of shock I had that I could look out my airplane window and see into people’s apartments while we flew past.
I flew in there in the early 90’s was crazy actually seeing people sat in there homes at eye level. Was a great experience
I flew into Kai Tak many times as a kid and vididly remember watching women hanging their washing out on their balconies out of the window within touching distance of the wing!
Same here - I lived in Hong Kong for the first 20 years of my life up until 1985. I flew in and out of Kai Tak many many times, and spent even more time in the bar at the airport every time me or any of my friends flew out.
It was amazing because we were surrounded skycrapper especially when I and my family boarded Singapore Airlines from Singapore...
@@cp8838 Lucky you. People are scratching any chances to leave again, but this time migration is more difficult than 80/90s.
@@steinwaldmadchen I know things are tough right now. I never actually emigrated anywhere though. Both my parents worked for the Hong Kong government, we were always British passport holders, although I did have a "Hong Kong belonger" stamp on the back page.
@@cp8838 ahh, what is that hk be longer stamp meaning, it is an official stamp?
I was a flight attendant for Northwest in the mid 1990s. As a JFK based flight attendant, I had the good fortune of getting two HKG trips (flight 17 and 18 on the 747-200) during 1996 which were my most memorable trips. At Northwest the lead flight attendant (purser) was based in the U.S. and the remaining crew was Asia based on flights south of Tokyo. Sitting on the jumpseat at 1L, I'll never forget looking over at the windows on the right side and seeing the apartment buildings as if I could touch them! Very exciting!
Flying into Hong Kong in the mid 90s through Kai Tak airport was a nail biting experience. The aircraft was almost touching the nearby buildings. It was definitely an awesome experience
Walking the streets and seeing the jets screaming overhead was amazing.
Flew there in 1997 on a Thai airways 777 plane. It had mechanical problems and was shaking quite hard during the landing. We were sitting on the emergency exit row and the flight attendants were sitting right in front of us. The sweat coming down there forehead was a good sign something was wrong. Fortunately we landed with no issues and the fire trucks were nice enough to meet us. I had a window seat and the view was amazing. Kept my mind off the problems the plane was having.
I flew in 1988. I remember seeing all the apartment buildings out my window. It reminded me of flying into San Diego's airport.
Have ( as a passenger ) landed and taken off several times from this scary runway... someone has commented that from the aircraft window they could see people in tiny houses watching TV.. that's absolutely true..I remember clothes lines in tiny balconies of all the houses facing the runway..( so close it was scary ) with rows after rows of drying clothes..!!! People in those house's living absolute " normal" lives....!!! Thanks for sharing...!!!
I think this is the video I suggested before ❤️
I lived in Hong Kong from 1988 to 1991 and I will always remember flying into Kai Tak! I am in no way exaggerating: You could look directly into the windows of the apartment buildings the plane past on its approach to the runway. I remember seeing a woman cooking in her kitchen as the 747 I was on flew by her window!!!
Mid 80's to 90's a few times. Before landing when looking out the windows you will see planes circling and taking turns to land. Also looking into the runway you can see the plane braking hard and have to turn left otherwise it will overshoot the runway and drop into the sea
Really exciting
thank god the new airport is built. much bigger and safer and modern
Kai tak and 747 two words that will always be missed
Well spoken 👍
Early 90s I landed in Kai Tak during a furious rainstorm it was my first and last. Tall buildings suddenly appeared BESIDE me through a cloud, thank God I was young at the time, one of my scariest moments ever and I used to climb mountains...
I once flew into Kai Tak in the jump seat of a 747 at night. No flashing signs were allowed near the flight path and a line of rooftop strobe lights marked the precise route. Simple but very effective!
I loved Hong Kong and esp flying into Kai Tak. I always tried to get a seat on the right hand side so I could get a view of the apartment buildings as we turned. I miss it dearly
I made several flights, all successful, into and out of Kai Tak in the mid seventies. Being hit by marbles from high rise rooftops was one problem; arriving over the threshold of the runway with several degrees still on was another. Very fond memories.
I took the short flight from TPE to Kai Tak during a typhoon. We had a two hour wait circling until it was safe to approach. Our 747SP made a good if bumpy approach to the runway, and suddenly we were over the sea. The pilot made the call to avert a landing and two hours later, we were back at TPE. On landing, the pilot came on and said 'we're heading straight back'! What a guy, obviously an ex-Taiwanese airforce pilot. He went back, but I didn't, preferring to travel back with CX the next day.
I flew into Kai Tak a few times as a kid and just thought it was normal to fly that close to buildings! Definitely a fun experience that I’ll never forget.
Yes, i flew into Kai Tak in December 1987 from Bangkok on board a Thai Airways A300 600. Kai Tak was magnificient. I drove past Kai Tak on a foggy winter evening to find a British Airways 747 right over my head at about arms length. WOW !!! FUN AIRPORT. SUPERB AIRPORT in the 80s. The Best in the world service wise. Miss you Kai Tak
Yes, I was based in Hong Kong twice and what I remember being the most challenging was the cross wind that used to turn 180 degrees on short final
I flew into Kai Tak several times from Manila as a kid on Philippine Airlines (747-200, DC-10, A300). This brings back a lot of fond memories of our family's HK holidays. I still distinctly remember to always request for a window seat. Once the aircraft banks to the right on final, it was a thrill to see the wingtip appear to almost touch the old low-rise buildings below.
When I was in the RCAF back 1986, one of the Boeing 707/CC-137s was on a round the world tour with the CAF National Defense college, they developed engine trouble and landed at Kai Tak, we sent a CC-130H Hercules transport with a replacement engine and techs to do an engine change, they made sure the engine and tool chest were tightly strapped down before they made the infamous turn. The Herc landed safely and the engine was changed. The best part of the trip though was going up to the Canadian War Cemetery to pay their respects to the fallen.
Amazing how Air Force planes always break down in nice places. I was once a passenger in a transport plane that had to fly a dog-leg into Bermuda after a plane suffered a bird strike and needed a new windshield. I was sat by the door and heard the conversation between our crew and the grounded crew. Basically, they had brought the wrong part and the grounded crew were like: "Oh, no, another week in paradise!"
Yes, I regularly flew into Kai Tak - often with my young family - between 1978 and 1989. It was an incredible experience. My young children loved it - not being aware of the dangers. I have never been through the new HK airport although my wife and daughter have.
I remember flying in as a kid. Heart-stopping
I did it a few times 1993 or 1994. My first trips to Asia, flying United from LAX. It was really exciting to land there, the buildings, the 45 degrees final curve, etc
I remember landing in a QANTAS 747 and thinking the pilot was lost. The next day at the Consulate General's canteen up in a skyscraper I discovered staff spent their break watching this spectacle.
Flew in & out of Kai Tak several times in the 1990's. Better than any amusement park ride ! Beautiful, scary, thrilling all at the same time. A perfect entrance to this fascinating city.
Joke of the day: Cathay is finally partly nationalized
Nationalized?
@@scarecrow108productions7 HK Government has poured about 27.3bil HKD (nearly the same as the worth of Cathay) to make sure they survive this Wuhan virus pandemic. And since a lot of ppl thinks that HK is part of China, Adding government portion of Stakes will make China Government owns 36% of state. 30% from Air China and 6% from HK Government.
For me, BAD NEWS. I really wish Qatar can invest on Cathay...
DomDOMT same
@@Monke.Shorts yea yea yea i am fully aware of this bullshit just like the fucktard joshua wong you roblox prick
So for me, it was Cathay who did that all wrong and buying hong kong airlines is a better option since they are nearly bankrupt because of HNA management. And Cathay got Swire and Qatar on its back so its gonna be fine.
Yes, I flew in to Kai Tak. Was my favorite airport of all time. Terrain, the water, the buildings. The approach was stunning. But also it was great to watch from the ground. You couldn’t see or hear a 747 when in between buildings until it was right on top of you. Then suddenly, a huge shadow would scare the bejesus out of you.
At night, you could take a dinner junk in Victoria Harbour, or a private Star Ferry cruise, and watch the airport and planes come and go at night. One cruise, we pulled up along the side runway 13, as 747s took off, and we were covered with the water spray kicked up from the jet engines. It was a blast. Victoria Harbour was a lot grosser then than today, with all sorts of sewage floating, but it was a blast nevertheless.
I was at the airport once when Prince Charles visited, and police with machine guns were everywhere. Was the first time I saw cops with machine guns.
Yes, it’s true what everyone would say - you could see in people’s apartment homes during the approach. You could see them, a family of 4, eating dinner, and you could count how many plants they had. You were that close.
I was told by senior captains that their companies would not allow you to fly into Kai Tak unless you flew there first as an FO or in the right seat. Several pilots saw the approach, and swore to never take a trip there.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Kai Tak is part of my childhood memories.
I remember watching planes landing during the final days of the airport. Those noisy jet engines and the sheer proximity were such an unforgettable scene.
I also had the chance to fly to and from Kai Tak, sadly I could only recall parts of the terminal building and the landscape outside the cabin window while taxing.
Nevertheless, I'm lucky enough to witness the glory of such a unique airport. I certainly miss it.
老實話，你哋香港搬機場可能係你哋而家咁慘嘅原因之一. 唔知係咪整壞咗你哋風水
Loved it. Still miss it.
1975, October - flew in on a Pan Am 747 landing on 31 and departed several hours later on a QANTAS 707 taking off on 13. I have flown the 13 approach in a simulator and if one sets the approach up properly it is not difficult but add windshear, turbulence, high crosswind component and reduced visibility then it becomes a handful.
I remember after dark on the approach as a passenger you could see into the windows of the apartment blocks and see the outlines of people illuminated by lamp shades hanging from the ceiling wow it was a amazing sight I shall never forget
I've flown into Kai Tak on a short transit stop from Bali to Taipei, but it was not the famed checkerboard approach. Still, the departure from rwy 31 and the immediate left bank while barely clearing over Kowloon is just as exciting.
I lived under the flight path into Kai Tak between July 1988 and August 1989. We lived in the British Army camp at Kowloon Tong, beside the checker board, and it seemed you could paint the underside of the planes as they decended onto the runway. Standing on the checker board gave amazing views, as did climbing Lion Rock and watching the planes come in. Nothing can compare to the sound and sight of being in the streets of Kowloon City as a Boeing 747 suddenly appears and the sky goes dark.
I mean you could still try to land on top if the cruise terminal.
I well remember my first (83) and last visit (97). In all about a dozen.
Once bounced twice on landing.
Remember watching a gentleman on his balcony having coffee one morning looking down on me.
I flew in (and out) twice - 1st, a BOAC 707 in 1966 (out '68) and an RAF VC10 in 1969.(out '71) ....In '69 I can still remember the plane creaking under the centrifugal force as it made the turn. (One thing to mention, the Checkerboard Hill was only one mile from the end of the runway not two. I went to St Andrew's primary school which was under the flight path - 1.25 miles from the end of the runway.....(So knew my Airlines by the time I'd finished there)........(Saw the first 747 - Pan Am land................................I have a couple of bits of film here of planes landing (taken from my flat below Lion rock mountain) and Checkerboard Hill from my old school here...............................th-cam.com/video/e1DU_sxsX-Y/w-d-xo.html
I flew into HK in '75 on an RAF VC10 too!
Consider yourself lucky to have escape the demise of BOAC flight 911, a 707 that took off (March 5, 1966) from Tokyo Haneda bound to Kai Tak. This aircraft broke up in mid air due to clear air turbulence, basically moutain air waves around the Fuji Yama.
Yes. I landed there several times in the 1970's. It was hair-raising to fly between the high rise apartment buildings.
Flying into Hong Kong in the mid 80' from Osaka was exciting don't remember anything unique But...Flying out ...I remember looking into the apartments seeing people in the kitchen, was absolutely unique. We were sitting on the left side of the plane and I noted have never seen anything like this before. A memory I never forget.
I flew on a upper deck of 747-200 landing on Kai Tak in Summer of 91. It was in a Typhoon. The scariest flight of my life. One minute, I see apartments above the plane, then a sky and then a huge bump of touch down. That was before stricter safety guidlines enforced into the company. I work for the same airline today.
My first arrival was in 1985, and I have been a resident ever since.
One thing you didn't mention was the aroma of the Kai Tak nullah which pervaded the aircraft very soon after landing. That stench was almost as memorable as the landing😎
Bob - I remember an inhabited area just outside the airport which was known as "Stinky Corner".
I remember the Fuji Film ad on the side of a building, I shut my eyes after that. Also after landing at night there, the pilot told us to remain strapped in. He wanted to refuel and beat the midnight kerfew, He started running up the engines while the hoses were still connected. Rolled at 7 minutes past midnight. So terrified on landing, terrified during refuelling, take off was a breeze after that, Back to blighty and a snow covered runway.
Thanks for the memories
I flew into Kai Tak many years ago. I had no idea what the approach would be like. I actually thought we were gonna crash. Afterwards I wanted to go do it again, like an amusement park ride.
I’m a pilot who flew that approach more than once. Insane by today’s standards.
We were hard as nails back in those days. Just got on with it
I was born & grew up in HK, Third Generation HK, so yes many brilliant Kai Tak experiences....my family knew many Cathay Pilots & Crew
My wife and I travelled landed and took off from Kai Tak in March 1998. I still remember we could see clothes lines on apartment buildings below moments before landing. And the large busses which took us to the terminal building when we got down. The busses docked straight into the terminal and doors opened and we walked into terminal.
I got to fly to Kai Tak so thankful to my parents for taking me there when i was a child 😊💺 ✈🙏
I flew in to Kai Tak in 1988 on a Cathay Pacific 747. I'm not normally a nervous flyer, but I do remember gripping my seat armrests on the rollercoaster turn over Kowloon City :)
In the Early 80's I flew in on a Canadian Pacific 747 flight, and I remember the final approach down a 'canyon' of apartment buildings. I swear, that I thought the wingtips would gather up the laundry hanging out to dry!
Yes, you could almost see what apartment residents were having for dinner! Unforgettable experience!!
I flew in several times on both Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific. Brilliant experience I am happy to have gained. I last saw the runway in 2001 when it was being used for container storage and I believe its now developed for housing. I will sincerely miss HK.
I have flown there, but I’ll be dammed I can’t remember anything.
Same here: I was too young to remember.
or too drunk ;)
My Dad used to be flight crew for Air New Zealand, and told me of a time they made the local HK papers for being the only aircraft to land at Kai Tak in a typhoon. The pilot shrugged and said it was just like a windy day at Wellington.
As a Hongkonger, lemme tell you Hong Kong typhoons are serious stuff
@@PatheticTV Yes once a large ship was blown ashore I recall. I remember call to having watch out for shattering glass panels from buildings.
Only the few the brave and the best can land at Kai Tak . Last accident was a China Airlines plane. Generally most accidents were overshot the runway.
My Father was an Air Traffic Controller at kai Tak from 1961 - 1980. I flew into HK on a regular basis over that time when we went on leave and when i went to school in UK,
I flew into the pre Lyeumun runway in 1958 and 59 in Bristol Britannias. At 13 I was too young to be scared. I may even have taken off from that runway in a Comet 4! I was at the opening of the new runway but i can’t be sure which year.
Yes! First time into Kai Tak was July 1978 to visit my maternal grandfather with my dad; part of my 1st round-the-world discovery. I LOVED THIS airport! But that 1st visit to HK, I do recall arrival and departure (the following week) were both over Victoria Harbour. “New” airport is fabulous, too! Cannot keep up with infrastructure in HK. Always THRILLING!
words cant describe the experience
I personally haven’t flown to Kai Tak but me aunt flew in the jumpseat on a Canadian Airlines 747-400
JayJay Aviation steeeeeeeve
Heyyyyyyyy
Me too!!
I flew to Hong Kong on Braniff in 1983. The 747SP landed in Kai Tak. It was interesting that you could clearly see the vegetables and flowers on people's roof-top gardens during approach.
We were flying through Kaitek in late 80's and early 90s and never new it was this difficult to land there. We never had any incidents and may be since we were teens the experience was only fast active people of HK. Where we visit Golden shopping centre and those roads near that we experienced this plans flying above us and it was not a seen to watch even as people were so busy as well as us. OH Hongkong How interesting was that time.
I FLEW TO KAI TAK ALMOST MORE THAN 30 TIMES, ON TG FROM BANGKOK, EXCEPT IST LANDING, ALWAYS HAD GLASS OF " BLOODY MARRY " IN MY HAND & ENJOYED LANDING.
As a regular user of Kai Tak, I found that if the plane hit the runway level with the advertising hoarding for Double Happiness cigarettes on the road by the side of the airport, then all was going smoothly. If we overshot that point, then I knew were in for some pretty brutal braking to avoid ending up in the harbour.
Double happiness indeed
When Kai Tak closed, Cathay Pacific presented me with plaque for "500 landings and takes offs from Kai Tak on CX". I ahve great memories of all the quirks that made it a great place to depart from and a welcoming place to come home to. I miss it very much. Nothing was more breathtaking the a night landing in the jump seat of an old Cathay Tristar at night.
Great video
I flew there in late 1970 & early 1980s where my mom was from. My dad was American born Chinese. Scary approach. The new airport location is much better as my family recently visited Hong Kong in 2016 & 2018.
Yes it was very frightening for me as a 15yr at the time.
Years later on business, I came out of arrival doors and asked at the information, for direction to the hotel I was staying. It was literally walk 200m, cross the footbridge and I was at my hotel - in the middle of city. That's so close the airport was to the heart of the city. No need for taxi, trains bus etc..
Those were the days
My dads friend is a pilot for Korean air, and he really loved that airport.
I flew in and out of K T airport 8 times of course the first time landing was scary but the most frightening experience I had was taking off. I was with my father we were waiting to fly out and a monsoon settled over the airport from the waiting area you look straight down the runway. The clouds were ground level with lightning hitting on all sides. Twenty to thirty planes backed up and we waited at least three hours and no let up. Finally still pouring and wind and lightning they decided to let planes take off. You could see them shaking down the runway until you lost sight in the clouds. When our flight was called I told my father I’m not going.. He started to scream at me and said to get on the plane. Reluctantly I did.i have never been so frightened in my life. We took off went up down shook fluttered swerved dipped and finally after what seemed like an eternity broke through the clouds. I turned to my dad to say something and I swear on everything holy he was sound asleep! True story.
I came through Kai Tak in 1995. I knew what to expect with the hard turn and it did not disappoint. Great memory.
My father flew into Kai Tak many times as a 747 pilot for United Airlines… RIP RKM! Lieutenant! KC-97 too