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Sometimes it seems Miami International Airport is in the business of landing spots on various unflattering lists rather than landing plans. Well, they really could pay better attention to that whole landing airplanes thing, because according to Travel & Leisure, MIA is the sixth most dangerous airport in America.
The travel mag says near accidents at airports are “more common than you might think,” and based their rankings “on both the overall number of runway safety occurrences and their severity” using information from the Federal Aviation Administration.
While lots of conditions contribute to airport safety, about two-thirds of all safety occurrences happen because pilots simply ignore the commands of air traffic control. However, most of the incidents involved pilots of smaller, private planes and not commercial pilots.
MIA received a score of 3.47, and the airport has had 47 safety occurrences between 2006 and 2010 . Though, ongoing construction at the airport could lead to safer conditions.
“Anyone who has flown in or out of Miami lately knows the airport is an ongoing construction zone, the result of a $6.2 billion capital improvement project scheduled for completion in 2011,” writes the mag. “Safety improvements include new runway lights, aprons, taxiways, and a midfield ‘hold pad.'”
In the meantime, don’t however think you’ll be any safer by traveling up to FLL. Fort Lauderale’s airport came in right behind MIA in seventh place.
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