During UNPROFOR Times, the final approach procedure to Sarajevo’s airport was considered the aeronautic ex libris of the mission. So much so that it got the designation of: – “Sarajevo Landing”.
Due to the permanent threat of small arms fire onto the landing aircraft, when the pilots got closer to the ground, they performed a “tactical landing” procedure, as a safety measure, that had some particularities.
In certain aircraft, the crew’s loadmaster would turn to the passengers and inform they were going to initiate the descend to Sarajevo; therefore, the passengers were invited to seat on their flak jackets, place their helmet on the floor and put their feet over the helmet. This way, if any crazy fighter decided to fire up, into the aircraft’s belly, during the landing, the bullets could eventually be stopped by those protections … eventually!
Next thing a passenger would notice was that the aircraft would be reaching the vicinity of the landing strip still very high. One would expect the aircraft to turn left, or right, losing altitude over the city and perform a circling landing partner. Pending on the type of aircraft and the amount of windows available, some passengers even tried to prepare the photographic machines, expecting to take pictures over Sarajevo. However, that was not the case; the excess of altitude was not a calculation error … it was the procedure to avoid small arms fire. About 900 meters from the runway threshold, the pilot would push hard the yoke, pitching down the aircraft in a 25 degrees slope. That was ten times the tilting of a normal glide slope for an airliner to land. In about 30 seconds the aircraft would dive down, land and exit the runway. The passengers were offered the opportunity to feel the G (gravity) forces at work. The initial 20 seconds negative Gs, and the last 10 seconds positive Gs. It was like doing a roller-coaster inside a washing machine!
Some tactical transport aircraft (C-130 type) were equipped with missile countermeasures, such as flares and shafts. Therefore, when those aircraft were doing their landing approach, the air show was complemented with fireworks, providing outstanding photo opportunities for those on the ground aware of what was going to happen. The entire procedure was known as “Sarajevo Landing”, and it became a standard tactical landing maneuver for high intensity conflict areas.
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