A tabletop runway is a

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

that is located on the top of a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

or hill with one or both ends adjacent to a steep precipice which drops into a deep

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

. This type of runway creates an

optical illusion Within visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide v ...

of being at the same level as the plains below, which requires a very precise

visual approach A visual approach is an approach to a runway at an airport conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR) but where the pilot proceeds by visual reference and clear of clouds to the airport. The pilot must at all times have either the airport or t ...

by the pilot when

autoland In aviation, autoland describes a system that fully automates the landing procedure of an aircraft's flight, with the flight crew supervising the process. Such systems enable airliners to land in weather conditions that would otherwise be dangero ...

is not used or is not available at all.

List of tabletop runways

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Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

Lengpui Airport Lengpui Airport is a domestic airport in Lengpui, serving Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, India. The airport is connected by flights to Kolkata, Guwahati and Imphal, and is located at a distance of 32 km from Aizawl. Lengpui Airport is t ...

, AJL/VELP , , - ,

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

Pakyong Airport Pakyong Airport is a seasonal domestic airport serving Pakyong, Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, India. Spread over , the airport is located at Pakyong about 31 km (22 mi) south of Gangtok. At 4,646 ft, Pakyong Airport is one of ...

, PYG/VEPY , , - , ,

Lampedusa Lampedusa ( , , ; scn, Lampidusa ; grc, Λοπαδοῦσσα and Λοπαδοῦσα and Λοπαδυῦσσα, Lopadoûssa; mt, Lampeduża) is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The ''comune'' of L ...

Lampedusa Airport Lampedusa Airport is an airport on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Province of Agrigento, Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 ...

, LMP/LICD , - , rowspan="7" , ,

Dolpa Dolpa District ( ne, :ne:डोल्पा जिल्ला, डोल्पा जिल्ला), is a district, located in Karnali Province of Nepal, It is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and one of ten district of Karnali. Th ...

Dolpa Airport Dolpa Airport , also known as Juphal Airport is a domestic airport located in Juphal, Thuli Bheri serving Dolpa District, a district in Karnali Province in Nepal. It is the only airport of the district. History The airport was upgraded in 201 ...

, DOP/VNDP , , - , Khotang , Manmaya Rai Airport , ?/VKND , , - ,

Okhaldhunga Okhaldhunga is the headquarters of the Okhaldhunga District in the Sagarmatha Zone of Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 3761 living in 790 individual households. Background The name Okhaldhunga originates from " ...

Rumjatar Airport Rumjatar Airport is a domestic airport located in Rumjatar serving Okhaldhunga District, a district in Province No. 1 in Nepal. Facilities The airport is at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway According to the ...

, RUM/VNRT , , - , Mugu ,

Talcha Airport Rara Airport , also known as Talcha Airport, is a domestic airport located in Chhayanath Rara serving Rara National Park in Karnali Province in Nepal. History The airport was constructed in 1975 but was only blacktopped in 2015. Airlines and de ...

, ?/VNRR , , - ,

Solukhumbu Solukhumbu District ( ne, सोलुखुम्बु जिल्ला , Sherpa: , Wylie: shar khum bu dzong) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. As the name suggests, it consists of the subregions Solu and Khumbu. ...

Tenzing–Hillary Airport Tenzing-Hillary Airport , also known as Lukla Airport, is a domestic airport and altiport in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu Pasanglhamu, Solukhumbu District, Province No. 1 of Nepal. It gained worldwide fame as it was rated the most dangerou ...

, LUA/VNLK , , - ,

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

Tribhuvan International Airport Tribhuvan International Airport ( Nepali: त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानस्थल) (, colloquially referred to as TIA) is an international airport located in Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal. I ...

, KTM/VNKT , , - ,

Sankhuwasabha Sankhuwasabha District ( ne, सङ्खुवासभा जिल्ला ) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district's area is 3,480 km2 with a population of 159,203 in 2001 and 158,742 in 2011. ...

Tumlingtar Airport Tumlingtar Airport is a domestic airport located in Tumlingtar serving Sankhuwasabha District, a district in Province No. 1 in Nepal. It is the main tourist gateway to Makalu Barun National Park. History The airport started operations on 01 ...

, TMI/VNTR , , - , ,

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Şaba (Romanian for Shabo), a town of the Odesa Oblast, Ukraine * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Saba (river), ...

, Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport , SAB/TNCS , , - , ,

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

Loakan Airport Loakan Airport ( ilo, Pagtayaban ti Loakan, fil, Paliparan ng Loakan) serves the general area of Baguio, Philippines. It is classified as a Class 2 principal (minor domestic) airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). L ...

, BAG/RPUB , , - , , Santa Cruz ,

Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport Madeira Airport ( pt, Aeroporto da Madeira, ), informally Funchal Airport (), formally Santa Catarina Airport () and officially Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, is an international airport in the civil parish of Santa Cruz in the Portugu ...

, FNC/LPMA , , - , , Longwood ,

Saint Helena Airport Saint Helena Airport is an international airport on Saint Helena, a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean, in the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha. The construction of the runway was finishe ...

, HLE/FHSH , , - , rowspan="2" , , Playa Santiago , La Gomera Airport , GMZ/GCGM , , - ,

Montferrer i Castellbò Montferrer i Castellbò is a municipality in the '' comarca'' of Alt Urgell, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. Montferrer i Castellbò towns: * Aravell * Bellestar * El Balcó del Pirineu * Montferrer de Segre * Sant Joan de l'Erm * Vilamitjana del Cant� ...

, Andorra-La Seu d'Urgell Airport , LEU/LESU , , - , rowspan="7" , , rowspan="4" ,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Catalina Airport Catalina Airport is a privately owned airport located 6.4 miles (10.2 km) northwest of the central business district of Avalon, California, United States, in the middle of Catalina Island. The airport is open to the public and allows gener ...

, AVX/KAVX , , - ,

Monterey Airport Monterey Regional Airport is three miles (5 km) southeast of Monterey, in Monterey County, California, United States. It was created in 1936 and was known as the Monterey Peninsula Airport until the board of directors renamed it on Septemb ...

, MRY/KMRY , , - ,

McClellan Palomar Airport McClellan is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Antwan McClellan, American politician *Barr McClellan, Texas lawyer and author, father of Mark and Scott McClellan *Beverly McClellan (1969–2018), American singer and contestant in ...

, CLD/KCRQ , , - , San Nicolas Island NOLF , ?/KNSI , , - ,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Sedona Airport Sedona Airport is a non-towered airport located southwest of the central business district of Sedona, Arizona, Sedona, a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The airport covers and has one runway and one heli ...

, SDX/KSEZ , , - ,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

Yeager Airport West Virginia International Yeager Airport is a public airport east of downtown Charleston, in unincorporated Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States. It is owned by the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority. The airport hosts ...

, CRW/KCRW , , - ,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, Telluride Airport , TEX/KTEX , , - , ,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Wellington International Airport Wellington International Airport (formerly known as Rongotai Airport) is an international airport located in the suburb of Rongotai in Wellington. It lies 3 NM or 5.5 km south-east from the city centre. It is a hub for Air New Zealand an ...

, WLG/NZWN , , - , ,

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

Toncontín International Airport Toncontín International Airport or Teniente Coronel Hernán Acosta Mejía Airport is a civil and military airport located from the centre of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The History Channel programme ''Most Extreme Airports'' ranks it as the secon ...

, TGU/MHTG ,

Selected accidents and incidents

* On 19 November 1977,

TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 TAP Flight 425 was a regular flight from Brussels, Belgium, to Santa Catarina Airport (informally known as Funchal Airport or Madeira Airport; now the Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport), Portugal, with an intermediate scheduled stop in Lis ...

, a

Boeing 727-200 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

, landed long on runway in

Madeira Airport Madeira Airport ( pt, Aeroporto da Madeira, ), informally Funchal Airport (), formally Santa Catarina Airport () and officially Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, is an international airport in the civil parish of Santa Cruz in the Portugu ...

, plunged over a steep bank and then crashed hard onto a beach. 131 people on board were killed in this accident but the runway was dramatically extended and got several upgrades in the following decades. * The configuration of

Mangalore Airport Mangalore International Airport , is an international airport serving the coastal city of Mangalore, India. It is one of the only two international airports in Karnataka, the other being Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore. Mangalore ...

has been cited as a factor in the Air India Express Flight 812 crash on 22 May 2010. The

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

Air India Express flight involved overshot the runway threshold touchdown area, failed to stop, went out of control, and rolled down a steep hillside. * On 25 May 2011, an

Embraer Phenom 100 The Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 is a light business jet designed and produced by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The project was announced in November 2005. On 26 July 2007, the aircraft made its first flight. It was awarded a type ...

, N224MD, operated by

JetSuite Superior Air Charter (previously JetSuite) is a private jet charter company based out of Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in 2006 by Alex Wilcox. In 2008, the company was re-branded from Magnum Jet after a push from financial backers. Wi ...

overran the runway during landing at the

. The pilots approached with an excessive airspeed, which resulted in a failure to stop the airplane before overrunning the runway. The airplane came to the rest upright on an approximately 40-degree incline at approximately below the departure end of runway 21. The first officer and one passenger suffered serious injuries. * On 27 May 2017, Summit Air Flight 409 stalled on

final approach In aeronautics, the final approach (also called the final leg and final approach leg) is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing, when the aircraft is lined up with the runway and descending for landing.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of ...

, subsequently crashing below the threshold of runway 06. The cargo flight descended too low on approach, upon which pilots suddenly increased the

angle of attack In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is m ...

at the low speed. The aircraft stalled as a result of excessive drag and impacted the sloppy terrain short of the runway. * On 7 August 2020, an

Air India Express Flight 1344 Air India Express Flight 1344 was a scheduled international flight on 7 August 2020 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Kozhikode, India, landing at Calicut International Airport. The flight was part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatria ...

(as part of

Vande Bharat Mission The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, Ind ...

) skidded off the tabletop runway at Calicut International Airport in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

with 19 fatalities including the captain and co-pilot.

References

Airport infrastructure {{aviation-stub