Chicago’s Meigs Field posed a big challenge
Question: What was the most difficult airport for you to navigate?
– John, Springfield, Missouri
The airport that was most challenging for me is actually closed now. That was Meigs Field in Chicago.
Airliners did not fly into Meigs, but corporate jets and turboprops did. I flew turboprops into Meigs several times during the 1970s. Occasionally, it was a definite challenge.
When the cloud ceiling was low, getting to the airport required conducting an instrument approach to Chicago Midway Airport. Then once I was below the clouds, I would have then have to rely on visual flight rules to fly to the lake, find Meigs and align with the runway. There were also buildings that had to be avoided during the transition from Midway to the lake.
There also are some extreme examples in Nepal and China that require extraordinary training and skill.
Q: Why don't you report on the lack of experience, training and maintenance standards among foreign carriers?
– Illinois If I did, it would be inaccurate for many foreign air carriers.
There are many air carriers throughout the world that have equal or better training, maintenance and experience to North American airlines.
Some other airlines, have much lower standards for experience, training and maintenance.
An attempt to say that North American Airlines are better than all other airlines is not accurate or truthful.
John Cox is a retired airline captain who runs aviation safety consulting company Safety Operating Systems.