Flying into Europe's Most Challenging Airport - Funchal, Madeira 

I’m Portuguese and yeah most pilots Portuguese do it

Hate to be a party pooper here, and I might be totally wrong, but this would not have been a "let me film in the cockpit, plz" while in mid-flight, it would have been absolutely pre-arranged long in advance with background checks etc etc etc. I work in film, and while have never shot anything in the cockpit during flight, an airline kindly gave us an empty, grounded (literally had its engines removed) A350 for a project I directed. The amount of checks we had to go through just to go airside and board a plane that was going nowhere took three weeks to clear. But as I say, I might be totally wrong, and Sam might have simply asked and was granted.

@@bazil83 Pretty sure you are kind of right, this must have been arranged with the airline itself. still very cool

@@bazil83 depends who the pilots are like

@@bazil83 Yeah, plus Sam Chui is a huge name in aviation journalism. He has a team working for him to make these videos possible. I think at this point commercial airlines WANT him to make videos on them since he has such a huge following and authority on this subject, so it's free marketing

Best place on Earth to spot planes!

@@michaeldatrindade1702 see one, then see the island.

thank you and cumpliments

Have you been to Spain?

Been To Madeira and Portugal, loved both countries. No regrets

@@SxpticFlxsh What did you like about Portugal?

@@SxpticFlxsh Today I learned that Madeira is a country xD

Viva Portugal 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 seu povo bondoso e trabalhador🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 suas imensas riquezas naturais como VOLFRÂMIO nas minas da Panasqueira, minas de Tungstenio e Litio em Brangança🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 imensas reservas de Gas Natural no Mar do Sul do Algarves, Terras fèrteis e clima ideal para producao de Trigo e Centeio nos campos do Alentejo, a maior reserva de pescados de toda Europa🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺 usinas de energia eletrica limpa por força das Ondas no Mar Portugues🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 maior plantaçao de CASTANHAS em areas montanhosas da Europa 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺 maior e mais estrategica Base Militar Aerea no meio do Atlatico Norte nas ilha das Lajes nos Açores🤺🇵🇹🤺🇵🇹🤺 muita segurança nos Transportes Aereos com a TAP Air Portugal 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 8°maior reserva de Ouro💰 do mundo no 🏛Banco de Portugal🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 integraçao e amizade com todos os povos da EUROPA🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺 Viva Portugal 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹 viva as naçoes amigas e irmãs USA🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 UK🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 EUROPA🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

I can recommend Plan Mania if you want real docu

He's not the only one!!!😍😍😍

Cool story bro

Yep! My thought is this oriental guy is VERY WEALTHY MAN and have a lot of connections....

I've started going there since I was 3 years old, I'm now 19. Also lived there for 6 years, from 6 to 12!

Going in January for our first time, worked with someone from madeira and it looks stunning!! Very nervous about flying and the landing in this airport in particular but I'm sure we'll be fine😊 the island does look very interesting and there seems to be alot of things to see?

@ThatScottishBusGuyツ and that’s pretty recent … he is mentioning like really back in the days, pre 00’s or even pre 90’s

Sorry, but you have been listening to the wrong people. I worked for British Airways for 10 years (1991-2001) and in that time they did not have a single Portuguese pilot flying for them. I know this because one of the systems I looked after was the one which sends crew details to their destination airport to facilitate quick immigration. Landing in Madeira is not particularly difficult, certainly not to the point where any pilot has to be specially certified or even undergo special training. The occasional day when it is blowy is something which all professional pilots cope with easily.

@@hb1338 it’s not particularly difficult… in recent times, after that massive extension was built. It was a rather dangerous airport before and, as a matter of fact, the only fatal accident TAP ever had was there, because the runway was too short and the plane just overran it and crashed on the beach below. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAP_Air_Portugal_Flight_425 And yes, it *did* require special certification. And even today, it’s not an airport where less experienced pilots are just thrown in willy-nilly. Do you think the young first officer landing the plane in Lisbon instead of taking off from Madeira is a pure coincidence?

Calado eras um poeta

@Aaron Marques - Maybe after that accident?

... and then spoil it with a statue of Cristiano Ronaldo.

@@hb1338 Indeed, I am Madeiran and it is just so embarassing 🤦🏻‍♂️ I have always been against it, but everyone goes to the sculpture to take a photo 🤦🏻‍♂️

@@DiogoF. i am also, last time i went to visit my family i thought they changed it??

@@ojcarre2432 Yes, the sculpture looks different from the original now.

@@DiogoF. yea, i think it would be nicer to have a sculpture depicting other parts of the islands history,

4 ~ 5 out of how many? It's not good if it is out of 10 times lol

@@SaadAltuilaai he said 98% of the landing were ok so im sure its not out of ten

yep I’m from Madeira too I had to go to Faro because of wind on 21st July 2022

And did you write down her Hotel and room number?? Obviously there is a subtle message in all that scratching from a middle age French woman! 💪😀

Hi, how is the climate in Januar? We want to visit Madeira with our kids. :)

The engineering is amazing. Those pillars look to be about 200+ feet tall.

@@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO A wee bit more, 70 m (230 ft).

SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 was a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle 10R aircraft, registered as HB-ICK, that crashed on approach to Funchal Airport, Madeira, on December 18, 1977.

So many places but not so many airplanes coming in and out of that airport

Sam’s videos are always upbeat and cheerful. That’s not going to be cheerful to learn about. There is always Wikipedia or Google it if want to know more.

@@michaeldatrindade1702 although interesting information, it is irrelevant to mention such a tragedy, in reply to the superb original video which was posted on here, which was commentating on someone's first flight to Funchal Madeira (and how they loved the whole experience!!).

@@yahyaalshaer3915 it is indeed the case, due to the worldwide pandemic, but pre-pandemic times, Madeira Airport (Cristiano Ronaldo Airport), was a very busy airport with daily arrivals/departures to and from various parts of the world, but even moreso to the UK.

below the airport there's few sports fields (like voleyball, football, tennis courts) and a small skate park, as well as a long way where people usually run

The runway was originally only 1600m long, it's now almost 2800m. It's the place of the only fatal aviation accident of TAP air where TAP 425 in 1977 ran out of runway when landing

Pls do moonwalk

@@thrustasymcomp9145 😂😂😂😂

Michael Jackson the biggest problem here (Madeira Airport) isn't just the strong winds but the strong cross winds. Imagine landing an airplane where 3 miles before landing you have strong winds from any direction (or not wind at all) and then just before landing you have a completely different situation, strong winds from 2 or more diferent directions

@@guidopestana9003 I've dealt with that...it's called windshear! When I was in the airlines I had a really bad windshear experience. So I do know what that is.... I'm not saying it's not bad there. There are places all over the world with such problems

@@michae8jackson378 windshear and cross winds are two different things. And as I said here in Madeira we have both of that at the same time many times all year. Our geography is basically cliffs and gorges/valleys. And the airport was built in a sea cliff between two valleys which makes it prone to this double problem. For some reason is considered 1 of 10 most dangerous airports in the world. You can find many videos on RU-vid about the airport and how difficult (sometimes) is to land and many of those times the airplanes are diverted to other airport (canary Islands, porto santo Islands or even back to Lisbon) I'm not saying it's always bad. Actually I've landed here dozens of times and only once felt a bit worried. But the best thing you can do is came here (Madeira Islands) for a week. You will love the Island and if your lucky you might experience this "special" landing. Just don't forget if you really come here to let me know so I can take you to some places around the island 🙂🍻⛰

😀👍👌 poncha

Pilots should only be focused on flying. This is not safe. Mayday episode on its way.

@@TheActionStack don’t be ridiculous, the plane landed already

its called 2.6M subs privileges.... As a portuguese im ashamed of TAP for allowing this

​@@p.6267 epá... esta merda ainda não é américa em que a malta tem de ter medo da própria sombra! já agora, Peter Peter é um nome portugês como o caralho!

@@p.6267 I agree the subs allowed him to do this. This is pretty much a promo for TAP so the pilots went along with the joke and the crew put in their best smiles and behaviour. If I asked to talk to the pilot about something (I play flying simulators) they would shut me down. Ill try tho since I have a flight in 2 days.

o típico foda-se

Ahahahah 😂 não apanhei essa mas depois de mencionares, adorei!

Na realidade o que foi dito foi: "Ground Spoilers"!

ground spoilers

@@mariobento1191 Agora com essa informação... ja consigo ouvir isso.. até este moment era só o "chegamos fodasse" :D

That's seems good only for watching nah!! Its terrible in reality 💯🙏

@@Demir_Sonmez thanks for the mention mate💯

Anyone has her ig account?

@@manswkwok ig is darochacastanheira

My wife and I have been there 3 times and guess where we're going in July, yep.. Madeira..Absolutely love it..

What is there to do there for tourists?

@@Dr.Pepper001 yes there is, a lot

What did you do in Madeira?

@@AzureKite191 you can roll down the streets in the tradicional madeira wood carts, go visit the trails in the mountains or visit Cabo Girão, the highest cliff in Europe, at almost 600m. You can taste our tradicional Bolo do caco, made in stone furnaces, or espetada, or even the classic bolo de mel. There is aswell the well known Madeira wine and the banana which we export all over the world. After this, you can still visit the tradicional triangular Santana houses, and take a visit to the hundreds of museums we have here, from the whale museum to the comtemporanium art museum, from CR7 to the etnographic museum, passing by the manual arts museum, where you can find the tradicional furniture and basquets made of cane, tradicional stuff aswell. If this wasn't enough, take a visit to our golden beach island, Porto Santo, visit the natural vulcanic caves in Porto Moniz, check the stunning views in Ponta de São Lourenço.

@@Dr.Pepper001 Pretty much everything. lol

Only less skyscrapers to fly in-between. I know from my parents that you could actually stand on those skyscrapers and look in to the aircraft as the windows where at eye level. I was a bit to young to experience that back in 1992 to 1994 but I did love it there.

And you are welcome back any time :)

I agree with you, by the way where are you from?

@@italianprince8858 I’m from Madeira and just came back 2 years ago , lived in London for 19 years :)

@@italianprince8858 I’m from Hungary but live in Scotland.

@@celiorebolo2876 Welcome

And beautiful firts officer in the return flight!!!!!

Do you have roots to Madeira?

Gloryfied bus drivers until something goes wrong.

@@jepulis6674 what a pilot is?

It was used from 1946 to 1980 and to me it remains the most beautiful Indeed. Then they used another until 2006 which was ok, and I find the current one the worse of all. Namely it creates visual drag.

same

Lucky you took me 2 days to make it and in the second day the landing was sketchy

Only best pilots are allowed to fly to Madeira

@@ejusius We had to be selected then fly with a trainer the first two times into Madeira to become qualified

She’s good looking, he’s not… normal that he was overshadowed 😂

There was a Captain?...and a airplane?...and a flight? Never noticed after seeing her. 👍

I love ur content

you're* and changed the whole meaning

Have you been to Madeira?

Which do you like better: Lisbon or Madeira?