SDU as seen from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro

While in Rio de Janeiro, I rode to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain in a pretty cool cable car.  After two such rides, I arrived at one of the best views of Rio de Janeiro.  From the top of Sugarloaf Mountain you can see Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, the large mountaintop Jesus Christ statue, and Rio’s local airport (SDU).  The local airport mainly flies regional jets to Sao Paulo, a large city located to the west of Rio.  Since Rio is surrounded by mountains, the landing route for the local airport is pretty epic.  The map shows SUD with Sugarloaf Mountain (Pao de Acucar) located to the south of the airport.

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This video shows the plane flying north of the Jesus statue and making an approximate 170 degree turn before gliding over the bay into the airport.

Aside from watching planes land from Gravely Point near DCA (Washington DC), I haven’t seen people gather to watch planes land.  We watched planes land every 10-15 minutes for almost an hour.  Flightaware’s flight path shows the extremity of the turn.

You can look up flight paths using www.flightaware.com

Conclusion

Even though plane watching is not an advertised activity for Sugarloaf Mountain, it’s a must see while visiting Rio de Janeiro.