Videos show landings as holiday flights arrive at Madeira Airport in high winds

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Video shows planes toiling in heavy winds landing on Sunday
Many were aborted at the last second and planes flew to other airports
Respected pilot and author says no airport can be labelled 'dangerous'

By John Hutchinson for MailOnline

Published: 06:31 EST, 18 May 2015 | Updated: 08:51 EST, 18 May 2015

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It can be one of the scariest airport landings in the world.

So this video showing planes toiling in high winds over the weekend at Madeira Airport, will not come as a surprise to experienced pilots.

As a number of planes approached the island runway on Sunday, the wind picked up so much it forced several to abort landing at the last second.

Terrifying moment plane struggles to land due to high winds

Heavy crosswinds caused pilots to use all their skills to land their plane at Madeira Airport

There were a series of hard landings at the island airport at Funchal on Sunday

Pilots require special training to land at this incredibly short runway on the Portuguese archipelago which is wedged in between mountains and the Atlantic sea.

The runway was so short it had to be extended twice due to accidents, including one in 1977 in which a Boeing 727 plunged off the end of the runway.

TAP Portugal Flight TP425 overshot the runway, hitting a bridge that ripped off the right wing. The aircraft then crashed onto a beach, setting fire, killing 131 of the 164 people on board.

The latest extension in 2000, saw an extra one kilometre added to the runway, built on concrete pillars in the sea.

The pillars stand at a height of 120 metres, half below the waterline and half above.

The planes look as they are descending side-on as the pilot battle crosswinds on approach

Funchal is often labelled as one of the scariest airport landings in the world

The airport at Funchal, Madeira was extended, and the runway now edges over the sea

The video shows planes landing almost sideways on the tarmac. Some come within seconds of landing before shooting back up into the sky and aborting.

However Patrick Smith, an airline pilot and author of best-selling Cockpit Confidential book says the landings simply emphasise the skills of the crew on board.

'In fact, a few of those depicted landings, which presumably are meant to appear frightening, show what most pilots would describe as an excellent crosswind landing,' Smith told MailOnline Travel.

This plane struggles to maintain a smooth and straight line on approach to the runway

At the last second the pilot aborts the landing and the plane shoots back up into the sky

'Also, remember that all jetliners have maximum crosswind limits. It's not up to the pilot to simply "give it a try." If the crosswind component is beyond a certain value, landing is not allowed.

'There is no such thing as a "dangerous" commercial airport anywhere in the world, period. If an airport were truly unsafe, no commercial carrier would consider flying there.'

The History Channel named Funchal as the ninth most dangerous airport in the world, and the second most dangerous after Gibraltar in Europe.

THE WORLD'S SCARIEST AIRPORTS

Paro airport, Bhutan

The Paro valley, surrounded by 5,000 metre-high Himalayan peaks, is arguably the world's most challenging airport to fly into. Pilots must be specially trained.

Princess Juliana International airport, St Martin

When the heavier aircraft such as Boeing 747s and Airbus A340s visit from Europe they are forced to fly improbably low over Maho Beach.

Princess Juliana International airport, St Martin is a sight to behold, just don't get too close!

Flying low! Beachgoers look on as plane flies just feet above...

Madeira Airport, Funchal Madeira

Special training is required for pilots landing at Madeira airport which is wedged in by mountains and the Atlantic.

John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York

Pilots must avoid interfering with flights into New York's close-by airports, LaGuardia and Newark when flying into JFK.

Toncontin airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Pilots have to do a 45 degree left turn prior to touching down in the bowl-shaped valley - after negotiating the mountainous terrain. In 1997, a US Air Force C-130 cargo plane overshot the runway at Toncontin and rolled 200 yards before bursting into flames on a major boulevard, killing three people onboard.

Barra Airport is know as one of the most scenic runways in the world

Barra airport, Scotland

One of only two airports in the world where scheduled flights use the beach as a runway. At high tide the runways end up under the sea, so flight times vary with the tide.

Matekane air strip, Lesotho

Taking off at this air strip is a harrowing experience; the plane drops down the face of a 600-metre cliff until it starts flying.

Gibraltar airport

A truncated runway stretches less than 2,000 metres and requires pinpoint precision and a readiness to hit the brakes as soon as the plane touches down on the tarmac.

Reagan National airport, Washington DC

Between two overlapping air-exclusion zones, Reagan National requires pilots to steer clear of sites such as the Pentagon and CIA headquarters before making a steep turn in order to land on the peninsula. When taking off, pilots are forced to climb quickly and execute a steep left bank to avoid flying over the White House.