If you've ever flown into Washington's Reagan National Airport here in DC* — and looked out the window — you know it's a pretty striking approach. Even elementary school kids can look outside and identify the Washington Monument, the Pentagon and the like. Then, before you know it, all you see is water on both sides, and what seems like an impossibly short runway. Bump, bump, and you're down. Travel + Leisure's got a great feature on the world's scariest runways, and National makes the list.

Located smack in the center of two overlapping air-exclusion zones, Reagan National requires pilots flying the so-called River Visual into the airport to follow the Potomac while steering clear of sensitive sites such as the Pentagon and CIA headquarters before making a steep turn and landing on this natural peninsula. Taking off, too, is a white-knuckle event in which pilots are required to climb quickly and execute a steep left bank to avoid flying over the White House.

They've tallied 15 in all, and each writeup features a video, too. Did you know there's a place in Scotland where planes land on a beach, when the tide is right? Or that only eight pilots in the world are qualified to fly into Paro, Bhutan? Check out the Travel + Leisure list to find out why!

*Technically, the airport's in Virginia, I know.