Landing 

Even on the largest carriers, planes only have a 500-foot runway to work with. A pilot needs to snag his plane's tailhook to one of the four arresting wires that are made from high tensile steel. These wires can stop a 54,000-pound aircraft going at 240 km/h in two seconds, within 315 feet!

Landing on a carrier in perfect conditions is difficult enough; ask pilots, however, and they'll tell you that landing on a carrier deck at night, in rough seas--with the deck pitching and rolling all over the place--is the scariest experience they've ever had. 


-Picture courtesy Reuters-