Aviation Specials – May 2018

Extreme Airports // 83

are complex by commercial standards,

they are not quite as challenging as they

might appear to the laymen. The high

ground demands careful navigation, but

TGU’s minimum sector altitudes (MSAs)

are somewhat lower than Innsbruck (see

P16) or Bogotá in Colombia. Furthermore,

many other airfi elds used by jet traffi c

have shorter runways, including Santos

Dumont in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a

combination of the two that has earned

the facility its notoriety.

Runway 02 and 20 both have

instrument-based VOR / DME (VHF

omnidirectional range / distance

measuring equipment) approaches,

but there is no ILS (instrument landing

system) at either end. Take-offs and

landings are normally on Runway 02

due to the prevailing winds and lower

mountains on its extended centreline,

while departures off Runway 20 are very

rare because of performance limitations

and climb gradients.

The most dramatic arrival is onto Runway

2. It has initial approach paths from the
   north and south, with the former used
   more regularly because it is not close to
   the mountains. The simpler straight-in
   procedure for Runway 02 has a missed
   approach point at 5,600ft, after which a
   very steep descent of 2,300ft over 2nm is
   necessary. Alternatively, crews may elect
   to fl y a 118o heading from the Toncontín
   VOR navigation beacon, and then make a
   360 o circle at low level before landing.
   The northerly approach, known
   unoffi cially as the Periférico 1 Arrival, has
   an even higher decision point at 6,000ft,
   and consists of a series of turns around
   visual reference
   points. Pilots initially

fl y inbound to a point 1.5nm just from the

threshold of Runway 20, then make a

20 o right turn to enter the left downwind

for Runway 02. Three airport guidance

lights (AGLs) provide markers for the next

phase of the approach. The fi rst is west

of the runway on the peak of a 5,000ft

mountain and after crossing it a descent

to 4,700ft must be initiated with visual

reference to the Represa Los Laureles

(Los Laureles Dam) and the Anillo

Periférico (Tegucigalpa’s outer ring road).

The highway has to be kept on the left at

all times. Then, a left turn onto base leg is

initiated at between 4,500ft and 4,300ft

over the Las Uvas neighbourhood, where

there is a second AGL. Continuing

the left turn and the descent,

with the road still on the

left, the third AGL has

to be overfl own at

TEGUCIGALPA

ABOVE LEFT: A

Copa Airlines

Embraer 190 makes

an approach to the

north.

ABOVE: The

runway length is

limited due to a

hill at its southern

end and a step

drop close to the

northern threshold.

BELOW: An

Embraer EMB-110

Bandeirante

makes a dive for

the threshold of

Runway 02.

80-85_Tegucigalpa_TC.indd 83 11/05/2018 11:21