Curator's Choice Video Collection

Cradle of Aviation Museum Historian and Curator, Josh Stoff, curates interesting short YouTube videos and provides commentary.

Virtual Museum Home > Curator's Choice > Landing at LaGuardia Airport

Landing at LaGuardia Airport – Expressway Visual Approach

YouTube Channel: Chris Greenhouse, posted March 12, 2018

We have all at one time or another peered out the windows, looking at the New York sights, as we are coming in for a landing at LaGuardia. But did you ever wonder what the pilot’s view was?

LaGuardia Airport (opened in 1939), is the smallest major commercial airport in the United States and is in the most congested area of any. There are about a dozen different approaches into the airport that pilots can fly, depending on wind and weather conditions.

This approach, from the southeast, is used in good weather conditions where major landmarks can easily be spotted. It is known as the ‘Expressway Approach’ as it flies over the Long Island Expressway in Queens, turning north over Flushing Meadows Park and the Van Wyck. If you have ever sat at a ballgame at CitiField and seen planes flying overhead, this is the approach they were flying.

In this flight, they are landing on LaGuardia’s 7000-foot long Runway 31 (310 degrees magnetic heading) and are under 1000 feet altitude as they pass near CitiField. Watch how the crew discusses how unhappy they are with the large new buildings constructed in LaGuardia’s final approach!

So put it on full screen, look for the landmarks, and enjoy landing an Airbus A310 at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.