Sweat Inducing Footage Of Massive C-5 Taking Off From A Runway That’s A Bit Too Short

Wonder What The Conversation In The Cockpit Was Like.

There are a few things about flying that are dangerous. Landing is one of them. Often described as a “controlled crash,” there are a lot of things that can go wrong when doing so. Then you have naval aviators that land on carriers, sometimes at night, sometimes during a storm and sometimes at night during a storm.

What we’re getting at here is that landing can be a real challenge.

Taking off, however, should be pretty straight forward, no pun intended. For a transport like a C-5, for example, it’s all about loading up, making sure the weight is right, going over the checklist and off you go (we know this is an oversimplification but you get the gist.)

The C-5 Galaxy can carry a payload of 270,000 lbs.

In this video, you’ll see a C-5 that is flying on their calculations alone with no option to abort after a certain point. Filmed at MSSS (Illapango International Airport) in El Salvador, this Galaxy crew had quite a white-knuckle takeoff. Probably maxed out on weight and facing a tailwind, these guys seriously took every inch of that runway to takeoff.

Check it out. It’s pretty sweat-inducing.