6. Santos Dumont Airport – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Year of construction: 1936
Risk factors: Short runways, surrounded by water
Santos Dumont Airport is Rio de Janeiro’s second major airport, and it was named after Alberto Santos Dumont, an aviation pioneer. It is owned by Infraero. The airport is familiar to anyone who has a working knowledge of aviation history, as it was the site of the worst crash in the history of Brazilian airports.
Santos Dumont Airport – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @joemcdonagh16 / Pinterest.com
TAM Airlines Flight 3054 skidded off the runway in Brazil because of rain, and it crashed into a gas station. This caused a huge conflagration, which killed 200 people. There were, sadly, no survivors. The airport, located on an island and home to very short runways, is still open, but people haven’t forgotten Flight 3054.