Skiathos Airport, Greece, has become famous for its landings. With its runway of only 1.5 km bordering the beach and particularly strong side winds, it is considered dangerous. On September 15, 2024, an Airbus A321 had a hard and spectacular landing there.
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The airport on the Greek island of Skiathos has become famous for its spectacular and perilous landings. With its short runway of only 1.5 km and its immediate proximity to the beach, this airport offers a unique but potentially dangerous spectacle for spectators, but also for planes.
On September 15, 2024, a Sunclass Airbus A321-200 coming from Copenhagen (Denmark) experienced a particularly hard landing in Skiathos (Greece). The impact was so violent that the plane suffered visible damage, particularly to the left main landing gear. A shear effect would be at the origin of the difficulties of this eventful and spectacular landing.
“It was a little scary” comments one of the passengers stoically, under the video posted on social networks.
After this incident, the plane remained stuck at the airport for more than two weeks. Airbus had to give special authorization for a repatriation flight, which will be carried out without pressurization, at low altitude, with two technical stopovers.
Pilots landing at Skiathos must deal with strong crosswinds, shaking aircraft and making every approach tricky. The narrow runway requires great precision, and landing is often done at a very low altitude above the beach.
For these landing conditions, Skiathos Airport attracts many aviation enthusiasts, called “planespotters”.
These amateurs come from all over the world to photograph planes passing a few meters above their heads. However, this activity is not without risk. In 2021, a child was injured after being thrown into the air by the jet blast of a landing plane.
