Treacherous but Beautiful Telluride Airport Runway

Here’s one more shot (and mini-story) from our Telluride adventure. As we were approaching the runway into Telluride, we were banking left and were almost completely sideways in the dual propeller 7 passenger plane. The runway is located on a plateau, and can be a very challenging approach for pilots, particularly those operating commuter aircraft or business jets. During winter months, approximately 20% of the scheduled commuter airline flights end up having to divert to other nearby airports because of abruptly adverse landing conditions. Pilots must contend with high terrain exceeding 14,000 feet at all quadrants, as well as the airport’s location on a plateau with a thousand-foot drop to the San Miguel River below. Most of the passengers on the plane were freaking out on our approach, but because I had my camera and was shooting the approach, my mind was taken off the extreme flight condition.