Nether portals drop player anywhere

I created a new nether portal in the overworld and lit it. When I walked through, no portal was created on the other side in the nether and it dropped me immediately out of the sky into a vast lava pool with no chance of survival, costing me all my max enchanted gear, weapons, and tools. This is an extremely unfair mechanic because there is no way the player can avoid it. Entering the nether should not result in an instant, unavoidable death like this.