Imagine the feeling of being in a window seat and seeing that your plane is about to land and you're not even close to the runway.

That's exactly what passengers got to see as this plane was preparing to land at the Funchal, Madeira airport in Portugal.

First, the plane was to the left of the runway and then the pilot took the plane to the right of the runway. At this point, you're thinking the pilot had too many in-flight cocktails and you're probably going to crash.

Landing an airplane safely at this airport requires a pilot has to make this kind of approach. Here's why. To make fliers, even more, nervous, half of the runway is held up by a series of 230-foot tall concrete pillars.

My wife and I experienced something very similar to this - but on a much smaller plane - landing at the Grand Junction Regional airport in a strong crosswind.

Knowing a little about flying, I assured my wife we were completely safe. All while making sure I knew both the location of the nearest emergency exit and the closest barf bag.

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