Hornet is right
Hornet is right, if you land a 737 at CRW, it's a real emergency. I don't think it's changed from the mid-60's. 5000-foot runway; that's 2000 under jet minimum. Lower than the mountains on either end because they cut off the top of one of the endless, even, flat-topped mountains to build it. Fog in the morning on a regular basis.
The embankments at either end fall away at at least 2 vertical to 3 horizontal. Zilch overrun. An A/C had gone off the end sometime before; dim memory but I think it was an ANG boxcar. Airline tests with 4-engined prop planes led to almost another disaster, if I recall (possibly it was a Connie they tried). So Eastern continued with the Martin (404?), and there was a similar Convair some flew. I think CRW was the only reason those ancient birds were still flying.
I flew in with an Eastern pilot on one engine one morning-- carburator. Fixed. Same captain and plane going out that night. Engine fire on start-up. Quietly pointed it out to the F/A. Nothing wrong reassurance. Anyway, the Captain had seen it after all. Both bottles, he said blandly, seconds later. Told me he had never lost an engine in 20 years of flying, and here he'd lost two the same day. The Electras solved this problem in style, for a while at least.
There was a plan in those days to cut down the next mountain and throw the rock into the gap to get a really long runway. It was 24 million cubic yards of cut, most of it rock, most could be ripped I think, but still 3 or 4 dollars a yard. And what couldn't be, blasting at 10-15 dollars. That was really a lot of money then, and I don't think it was ever done.
BTW, CRW must be right under an airway. Went right over it a bit ago. That might explain the choice-- could have been closest with no diversion required, nearly straight in.
OE