One of the things very few passengers may hear about are special airports. A special airport which is determined by the FAA is an airport with unique challenges for pilots such as surrounding terrain, obstructions, or complex approach or departure procedures. Special airports require special qualifications. Both pilots must receive written & pictorial training on the airport. What is also unique about special airports is that they tend to have more incidents, hazards, & accidents. There are not a lot of special airports in the country as compared to total airports. Some examples of special airports are Laguardia NY, Raonake Va, Midway Chicago, are a few. 
Princess Julia Airport on St Martain Island in the caribbean is a famous special airport because of it's short 7000 ft runway. Considering that large heavy jets lands there, the runway is barely enough for some aircraft to make a complete stop. That why you will often see some photograhs of sun bathers on the beach snap a picture of a large jet just over the beach. The photos of the jets approaching the runway at such low heights is no exaggeration.That's what pilots have to do sometimes making low approaches into such short runways so that they can use as much runway as possible for stopping. It may not make you feel comfortable, but that's a special aiport. Although risk are still low of airline accidents, why reduce your margin of safety by flying into a special airport. It's no different then flying with an unsafe airline with spotty maintenance.