Why didn't more planes crash at Hong Kong Kai Tak airport?

9/11 crashes were on purpose

All pilots know about the dangers

I have always considered landing in Guam much more dangerous

There were definitely some white-knuckle landings because not only did one have to deal with the mountains, there sometimes strong cross-breezes. If you watch on YouTube some of the approaches into Kai Tak, you will wonder how there were so few incidents of the plane's wing or engine smacking the runway. But because the approach was challenging, pilots were trained really well and they were really careful on their approach. They also took their job really seriously flying into Kai Tak because they knew the consequences if they made a mistake.

Because pilots knew that it was a particularly difficult approach, and paid very close attention. Nobody dozed in the cockpit while flying over the buildings with people's laundry hanging out on the roofs. Then the sharp right angled turn down over the chequerboard and head for the harbour ... thrilling.

Just by the way, these were not 'skyscrapers' as we understand the word nowadays. Most of them were no more than say 20 storeys high.

Also just by the way, I remember as a child of 6 or 7 being held up in traffic while blasting was carried out to improve the airport after the war.

Good Question

IMO it was because the prospect of certain and immediate death was visually obvious during the visual approach.

Unlike the complacency of the human mind that is focused on flight instrument interpretation in IMC where the close proximity to that same certain death is visually obscured.

Because pilots were far more involved in the approach.

It wasn’t an approach you could couple to an autopilot and disconnect at 79 feet before touchdown all stabilized.

You needed to hand fly a precise visual maneuver to a successful landing.

Pilots needed special training to land at that airport; that definitely helped pilots land safely.

In addition to the special training, airline pilots are very experienced.

They have good pilots flying them. Good pilots are good at avoiding skyscrapers. The planes that crashed into the world trade centers were flown by terrorists that purposely crashed them.