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Home » Bhutan » Insane 737-300 Cockpit Landing
737Bhutan

Insane 737-300 Cockpit Landing

Matthew Klint Posted onAugust 14, 2021November 14, 2023 14 Comments

a large city with cars parked in front of a road

Yes, it is a difficult airport to land in. But no, a 737-300 landing captured on video is not common or normal…it is insane.

 737-300 Landing In Paro, Bhutan Is Insane…

A curious landing video caught my eye, for a number of reasons:

Anyone know the runway? Indonesian registered aircraft but I don’t recognise it 🤔 pic.twitter.com/42OQracYRl

— Matt Dearden (@IndoPilot) August 4, 2021

The runway is Paro, Bhutan (PBH), runway 15 to be precise. The aircraft is a Boeing 737-300 registered as PK-YGW and part of the Tri-M.G. Intra Asia Airlines fleet, a cargo carrier based in Indonesia.

The flight originated in Kolkata, India (CCU) and was delivering Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to Bhutan. After the rough landing, it sat on the ground for 16 hours before continuing on to Bangkok (BKK).

I’ve never flown to Paro, but I understand it is one of the most difficult airports in the world to land in. Still, the warnings and particularly the captain holding the mobile phone and filming his landing when he should have been focusing were not at all comforting.

A longer video later emerged:

I’d say this doesn’t make the captain appear in a better light (both pilots may be captains – we cannot see the number of stripes on the pilot sitting in the left seat, where the captain traditionally sits). Instead, it looks like sloppy incompetence.

CONCLUSION

It’s easy to say I could have landed it better myself…I won’t go that far. But come on, this cannot be standard operating procedure. The egregious cell phone issue aside, those audio warnings are not comforting.

Want to watch a proper landing in Paro? Sam Chui has you covered:

Tough airport, for sure, but this landing cannot be reasonable, right?


image: Mashrik Faiyaz

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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14 Comments

  1. Greg Reply
    August 14, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    The emerging market pilot bravado “be careful, don’t worry”

    No pax onboard so different risk tolerance I guess

  2. Michael Reply
    August 14, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    Yes, very disconcerting that the COPILOT (you should know the difference to be relevant, Matthew) is 90% distracted with the phone. As a US pilot, l know both pilots would certainly be disciplined severely for their behavior in-flight. Maybe they will record themselves flying in the US, so the FAA can fine the crap out of them. There is no place in the cockpit for anything resembling this behavior. This cargo carrier should fire them immediately.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      August 14, 2021 at 7:35 pm

      Maybe in Indonesia the captain sits on the other side? You’re guessing just as much as I am. But yes, copilot is correct.

  3. Aaron Reply
    August 14, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    Holy bank angle, not being lined up with runway, and super hard touch down!!!

  4. Benjamin LeRoy Reply
    August 14, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    Mentour Pilot just did a great breakdown of this unstabilized landing. As usually not all is what it seems, though it’s still shocking the first officer was filming on his phone.

    https://youtu.be/3tga6fn6nXI

    • profan Reply
      August 15, 2021 at 10:06 am

      Excellent explanation, thank you.

  5. dorinda winkelman Reply
    August 14, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    i Have flown into Paro. it is required to have a Druk Air navigator on board . that’s who was standing behind the pilots and telling them not to worry., and filming……We picked up our navigator in Delhi. FFS dont talk about something you dont know anything about. You just sound so smug and superior.

    • Cee Reply
      August 15, 2021 at 1:39 am

      You can land without the navigator if you follow the other guidelines:

      Prior operating into Paro airport the pilot in- command should be briefed and visit the aerodrome as an observer.
      – or should Undertake instruction in a simulator approved by the authority for that purpose.

      Full text at https://www.doat.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/AD2_1-Aerodromes-VQPR-min.pdf (section VQPR AD 2.22 FLIGHT PROCEDURES). Credit to Benjamin LeRoy and the linked YouTube vid for highlighting this.

      • Michael Fjetland Reply
        August 15, 2021 at 10:51 am

        The author doesn’t know what he is talking about. The pilot didn’t shoot this video. It was a person sitting behind the pilot and copilot whose hands are on the controls.

  6. Stuart Reply
    August 15, 2021 at 5:54 am

    I have landed at Paro on four different occasions and I really don’t see what is so out of the ordinary other than the use of a cell phone. Yes, that part is pretty egregious given the complexity of the approach here. But everything else looks pretty much the same as I remember. It’s quite exciting on any day.

  7. Amelia E Reply
    August 15, 2021 at 12:49 pm

    Click bait. Author is an alarmist and clueless.

  8. Sal Reply
    August 15, 2021 at 1:33 pm

    The warning signals going off is normal for Paro. I believe Druk Air actually turns them off.

  9. ChuckMO Reply
    August 15, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.

  10. Veronika Reply
    August 16, 2021 at 6:42 am

    Here is a fantastic analysis of this by Mentour Pilot…

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