The Kai Tak Heart Attack

Although Kai Tak Airport definitively closed its doors in July 1998, it remains one of the most legendary airports in aviation history. This is primarily due to a combination of factors that made the landing strip—jutting into Kowloon Bay—one of the most demanding, challenging, and dangerous approaches in the world.

The final landing approach, in particular, required nerves of steel and absolute precision from pilots. Over the decades, this terrifying descent came to be known among passengers landing in Hong Kong as the “Kai Tak Heart Attack.”

Due to the peculiar location of Kai Tak’s Runway 13, which extended into Kowloon Bay just south of a mountain ridge, standard automated instrument landing systems could not be used to follow a straight path. Instead, airplanes—including giant commercial airliners like the Boeing 747—had to fly incredibly low over Kowloon’s densely populated neighborhoods.

Furthermore, pilots had to aim directly at a mountain named Checkerboard Hill, named after the massive orange-and-white checkers painted on its slopes to serve as a visual guide. Upon visually identifying the checkerboard at just 650 feet (200 meters) above sea level, pilots had to execute a steep, 47-degree right-hand bank to align with the runway.

This sharp turn was executed at speeds of 150 to 180 miles per hour over heavily crowded residential neighborhoods. This included the infamous Kowloon Walled City, which was, at its peak, the most densely populated area in human history.

Looking on the bright side, however, the "Kai Tak Heart Attack" has provided aviation photographers with some of the most dramatic and mesmerizing images in the history of flight.