Kai Tak - Respect and Awe

For some nostalgic reason, I've been reading up quite a bit on Kai Tak airport over the past few days. Kai Tak airport was Hong Kong's main airport until 1998 when the new Chep Lap Kok airport took over operations. Situated near mountains, Victoria harbour, and low-rise and residential buildings surrounding the airport, Kai Tak's geographical position for an airport was not exactly considered ideal. What made Kai Tak famous however, was the unique landing approach pilots had to take when landing on Runway 13.

Due to the surrounding mountains, planes landing into Kai Tak via Runway 13 could not make a straight direct approach (which is the common and ideal approach method) and thus instead had to come in at an angle (to avoid the mountains) and in the final stage, make a 47 degrees right turn to align itself with the runway to land. While doing all this, pilots had to control their descent because directly below were low-rise buildings as high as 6 storeys; Pilots could not come in too high either as this could cause them to overshoot the runway, have insufficient braking distance and risk landing in the harbour. This tricky landing approach, further made more difficult with Hong Kong's notoriety for strong crosswinds, monsoon weather and typhoons, made Kai Tak world-famous among pilots as well as aviation enthusiasts, who took up positions at building and car park rooftops and nearby hills to snap photos of approaching planes making 'the turn'.

Back when I was a kid, my dad used to take me to the open-air rooftop of Kai Tak's airport car park. This place offered an unobstructed view of incoming planes making the turn and landing into Kai Tak. As a kid, this was an absolute thrill and watching plane after plane land in full sight in front of my eyes totally made my day. It was only until now, after doing some homework, that I realized how special Kai Tak really was. I recently read an Air Traffic Controller's (ATC) account of his term at Kai Tak and despite the numerous technical acronyms and rough understanding of the modus operandi, I was filled with respect for the people who experienced Kai Tak first hand. If you thought landing at Kai Tak was hard, traffic control was just as hard due to the busy airport operations - which was well over its designed capacity. To the pilots and ATC's who braved Kai Tak, I salute you.

After its 77 years of faithful service and amazing landings, I read with some sorrow about Kai Tak's fate - something which I could not have understood then. I'm sure that Kai Tak will always remain in a special place in the hearts of those who knew and/or experienced it. To end it off, here are some scans of my old photos of Kai Tak taken in days gone by...

A Thai Airways B747-200 landing with a classic backdrop of buildings found near the airport

A South African Airways B747-200 with the infamous checkerboard, a visual checkpoint at which pilots had to make the 47 degrees right turn

A ramp shot of a Singapore Airlines B747-400 'Megatop' basking in the sun with the Control Tower in the back

A Japan Airlines B747-400 waiting for its turn in front of Runway 13 with Victoria Harbour in the background

Kai Tak's empty ramp after its closure