Landing Where We Shouldn’t
The view out front on short final was rare for a casual pilot like me.
A tiny strip. Clinging to a hillside. Offset by a nasty, gusty crosswind. Just the way we wanted it. And as I crossed the threshold, I suddenly realized: wait, I’m not supposed to be landing here.
More on that in a moment.
It started as a friendly competition… with myself.
Before leaving Hawaii for a new job on the mainland, my goal - perhaps not original or unusual - was to land at every non-military airport in the state.
Shouldn’t be too hard, I thought, as I counted the 15 pieces of pavement in paradise meeting my criteria. But then a local pilot familiar with my pursuit chimed in.
“Oh, don’t even think about landing at Kapalua (PHJH) on Maui. All those rich people on the West side of the island don’t want to be bothered by the drone of a Cessna doing touch & goes.”
Well, that’s interesting. The Airport Directory dug-in:
- Arpt Restricted to Part 121 & 135 Far Operators
- No helicopter operations
- No jet powered aircraft allowed
- No practice and training flights permitted
- Special Noise Level Standards in place
- Don’t even think about it, you annoying renter pilot
Okay, I made that last one up. But they might as well print it.
A few days later while sitting at my full-time, non-cockpit, media-related desk job, I stumbled upon an old email from a friend of mine working at the Department of Transportation. Ah, what the heck. Doesn’t hurt to ask, right?
Three days later, a reply da-dinged into my inbox: “Hey there. It shouldn’t be a problem approving your request. Just send me some specifics about your flight.”
I lept for the phone and dialed my instructor, who had also been banned from Kapalua. He didn’t believe what I was telling him.
“Dude, if you can hook this up, this flight is on me!”
Now where were we? Back to short final, with runway 2 at Kapalua closing in. Winds 050 at 19, gusts 29. Doesn’t matter. Fight it. Nothing could ruin this now.
And after two respectable landings – one by each of us - and some teasing from an envious Part 135 pilot in the pattern, we had accomplished the impossible.
Landing a Cessna. Where we shouldn’t.
A special thanks to Hawaii Department of Transportation Spokesperson Tammy Mori, Maui Airports Manager Marvin Moniz, and flight instructor Scott McLaughlin for making this possible.
