(Modern Wash: The image reminds me of a Chinese wash painting with exception of the theme on buildings rather than mountains. The wash of grey silhouette is what caught my eye at the scene. The airspace above the buildings was once the landing route to the old international airport in Hong Kong)
Until the old international airport was decommissioned, I often went up a hill which commanded a view to the landing route. I went there for plane spotting. The hill was actually a landmark for pilots to take the last turn to align planes with the airstrip. Landmarks are important for pilots, as told to me by a late WWII co-pilot who was my friend, as tangible way points to complement the electronics aboard. On the hill I could have been killed.
I am still not sure whether the pilot drink-flew or the electronics malfunctioned on that unforgettable ocassion. I was on the hill, standing on a narrow strip by the steep slope, and watched planes landing as usual. After a while, a Boeing 737 plane came along. It kept on flying towards where I was standing. From experience, I was certain that the pilot missed the way point where he should veer the plane. The plane went straight towards the hill for ten seconds which was a long time for a flying plane. I thought to myself that I could die there in a second. Luckily, the pilot took a deep turn even though it was at so late a moment that it was just some 50 metres away from the hill, exceptionally shorter than the 300 metres distance. I covered my ears with both hands as the plane winged its way to the airport.
The place I took this photo is on the hill in the background of this photo. The plane winged past a normal distance as close as this. Now you know why I was scared my pants off that time.
More photos of the amazing old days landing at Kai Tak can be viewed here.
(The airstrip of the old airport is on the lower
left-handed side of this photo)
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