5 Most Impressive U.S. Airport Final Approach Views

[RCDC]

Dulles is boring but arriving at National over the river is pretty cool. (pilots have the best view)

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[MayDay]

As someone mentioned, coming into LAX from the east is just unreal with how much land is involved when you say "Southern California":



Of course, LGA is a treat if you're on the "right" side of the plane. I always forget the waterside location makes it a harder and shorter landing than other airports (though nothing like Key West!):



But San Diego takes the top prize for how up close and personal you get:

[Shawn]

For international cities, anyone remember the scene in Kill Bill when Uma Thurman lands at Haneda in Tokyo? How close the plane flies over all those houses and oil refineries on the Bay? It's really that intense.

[xzmattzx]

Here are good ones, in no particular order

LAX: As described in the original post, you go from the Inland Empire, to the mountains in the back, to Downtown LA, when on the passenger's side.
YTZ: At least from a flight to and from Quebec City, you parallel the skyline along the lake.
FLL: Coming from the north, you follow the south Florida coastline and then turn in from the ocean.
BWI: Depending on what side of the plane you're sitting on, if the sky is clear, you have a good chance os seeing either Downtown Baltimore pretty close, or the Washington Monument and Capitol in Washington, DC.
LAS: Usually there are good views of the Strip and Downtown, and then you can get a good view of Hoover Dam as well.
NAS: I've circled New Providence Island both times flying out to Fort Lauderdale, and had great views from the passenger side.

BOS, SAN, and SFO are also pretty good, from my experience.

ORD, MDT, TPA, KEF, MCO, and MSY are subpar views, among others, from my personal experience.


This seems as good a thread as any to go over flight paths I've had that have taken me over the Grand Canyon for spectacular views:

BWI>LAX: passenger side, flying maybe 20 miles south of the rim with a perfect view for all 100 miles' length (and once I flew over southern Utah sitting on the passenger side, so the driver's side might have seen it that time)
LAS>IAH: driver's side
PHX>SLC: both sides (I was on the passenger side); the plane went directly up the middle
LAS>BWI: driver's side, flying barely south enough where we flew over top the canyon by the time we were at Grand Canyon Village

[Labtec]

Originally Posted by SteveD

Atlanta approach, if you're on the skyline side of the jet (right side westbound, left side eastbound) can be spectacular, especially if the air is clear and you see not only downtown and Midtown but also Buckhead, Perimeter Center, Cumberland, and the north Georgia mountains. I travel frequently and nationwide. People crane their necks to get views in the usual suspects, New York, Chicago, etc., and also Atlanta, especially if the air is clear and weather is cooperating.

I love coming into LaGuardia over the water and Midway in Chicago, because they both seem so dangerous. When you travel as much as I do, it becomes tedious and anything that adds excitement is welcome. Also nothing beats clear views of Manhattan, coming into any of the big three airports, if you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse.

Yes, Atlanta can be spectacular if you're on the correct side (can also see Stone mountain), the other side is a bore. Approaching Vegas is always great, a lot of mountains and then suddenly a view of the strip. My favorite is probably landing in Newark because you can see the entire Manhattan skyline from the air.

[CastleScott]

^ There's some great one's here some of which I've experienced the "oh shit" factor, but what about Burbank where you almost seem to land atop their tallest building-just another I wanted to mention.

[Sun Belt]

Salt Lake was a good mention, so long as the air is clear.

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

On approach from east to west are South Beach,downtown/Brickell, Little Havana with Marlins Park :

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The Southern approach alongside Brickell is the most scenic but going east out of the Northern runway is more ahem...interesting as you have to climb up over the 500+ footers in Edgewater directly in your path. I don't know if I have ever landed on the north runway of MIA coming out of the east. I am always coming in from the West or from the South East.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by Will O' Wisp

Internationally the most famous are London City, Congonhas, Taipei Songshan, and of course the legendary (and now closed) Kai Tak.


Taipei Songshan:

I love flying into Songshan - far better than flying into Taoyuan. Great views and so close to downtown.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Shawn

For international cities, anyone remember the scene in Kill Bill when Uma Thurman lands at Haneda in Tokyo? How close the plane flies over all those houses and oil refineries on the Bay? It's really that intense.

I flew from HND to HIJ and it definitely felt like you're right in the middle of the city.

Originally Posted by CastleScott

^ There's some great one's here some of which I've experienced the "oh shit" factor, but what about Burbank where you almost seem to land atop their tallest building-just another I wanted to mention.

Yeah, flying into BUR you feel like you're going to land in a parking lot.

[tayser]

Originally Posted by austlar1

LGA is always pretty interesting with lots of twists and turns. It helps if there is a good view of Manhattan as part of the approach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd-qo5wQN2o

First ever trip to Noo York I flew into LGA on this approach (it was just at dusk) and still to this day is one of the top arrivals I've done anywhere in the world.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by JManc

Yeah, flying into BUR you feel like you're going to land in a parking lot.

Landing at SNA from the east makes it look/feel like you're landing on the 405.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

If only for the views (I've heard the pilots hated the landing), it's a shame Hong Kong Kai Tak is no longer around.

There used to be jokes about all passengers being provided a change of underwear upon leaving the planes. Having seen many videos of landings there, I can see why.

[giallo]

I always like flying home to Vancouver. You get a great lay of the land when flying in. You also get a good idea of how many highrises there are spread throughout the region.

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[Will O' Wisp]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I wonder what the minimums are for airport proximitty to downtown for the FAA to not care.

At 15 miles out, ORD is definitely far out enough (and its runways don't line up at all with downtown anyway), but MDW is only 8 miles out and its runway 4R/22L is PERFECTLY ALIGNED with the 961' tall 311 S wacker. Apparently 8 miles is enough distance, but I wonder what the minimum would be.

As with all things, the FAA has a complex set of rules for it. Technically the FAA studies any structure over 200 feet, but almost never issues negative rulings for anything beyond ~4 miles from the airport. The exact limit they're looking at are is laid out in Federal Air Regulation Part 77 - Obstructions to Air Navigation.

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[dave8721]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I wonder what the minimums are for airport proximitty to downtown for the FAA to not care.

At 15 miles out, ORD is definitely far out enough (and its runways don't line up at all with downtown anyway), but MDW is only 8 miles out and its runway 4R/22L is PERFECTLY ALIGNED with the 961' tall 311 S wacker. Apparently 8 miles is enough distance, but I wonder what the minimum would be.

Miami International is only ~4 to 5 miles out from downtown and the E/W runways are directly aligned with 500+ skyscrapers. Thats why anything over ~650 feet has always been a hassle with the faa.
The area between I-195 and the MacAurthur Cswy has been booming with new towers.
(the area marked "Edgewater" on this map is a wall of towers now)
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mi...!4d-80.2870457

[pianowizard]

Originally Posted by MayDay

As someone mentioned, coming into LAX from the east is just unreal with how much land is involved when you say "Southern California":

Wow, L.A. really doesn't have a whole lot of skyscrapers. I walked around downtown last year and thought there were many more skyscrapers than this. Perhaps Angelenos are so used to spreading out that there is little incentive to build tall within the central business district.

It's a stunning photo nonetheless.

[JAYNYC]

Originally Posted by pianowizard

Wow, L.A. really doesn't have a whole lot of skyscrapers. I walked around downtown last year and thought there were many more skyscrapers than this. Perhaps Angelenos are so used to spreading out that there is little incentive to build tall within the central business district.

It's a stunning photo nonetheless.

This aerial view definitely shows a bad angle of the DTLA skyline. Ground level (approaching from the south via the 110, from the north via the 101 or from the west via the 10) is more impressive.

That said, if you think L.A. really doesn't have a whole lot of skyscrapers based on the photo above, it's even more amazing when you consider it's a fairly recent photo that shows the "new" DTLA, with 20+ more towers than DTLA had 15 years or so ago.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by austlar1

LGA is always pretty interesting with lots of twists and turns. It helps if there is a good view of Manhattan as part of the approach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd-qo5wQN2o

Yes, this is the path that lands over the Home Depot that I mentioned, but you have to be on the other side of the plane to see it. This path also goes over my neighborhood in Brooklyn on approach to LGA.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

Landing at SNA from the east makes it look/feel like you're landing on the 405.

Yeah, another small one in the LA area. I flew into that one too but it was at night and hard to get my bearings.