Checkerboard Approach
Hong Kong
China, 2013

Fascinated by the history of the checkerboard approach to Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, Hans Wilschut went in search of the remains of Checkerboard Hill, the iconic point of reference in one of the most famous and demanding landing routes in aviation history.

After their descent over the city, pilots used the large checkerboard as a visual marker, before making a sharp right turn at low altitude to align with the runway. Performed between hills, crosswinds, and the dense fabric of the city, this manoeuvre gave Kai Tak its legendary reputation while also rendering it vulnerable to incident and disaster. In effect, what we see here is the view of the city as it appeared to pilots in the final minute before landing. From the edge of the checkerboard, Wilschut took this photograph, in which Hong Kong appears as a metropolis that, after the airport’s closure, did not become any less charged, but instead continued to expand in a wild and unchecked way.