It is estimated that over 300 people have died and countless others have been injured while attempting to climb Mount Everest. However, the danger doesn’t just lurk when climbing this majestic mountain, it actually begins when people land at Lukla airport.
Located at an altitude of nearly 3,000 m above sea level, Tenzin-Hillary Airport is located in Lukla town, Khumbu, Solukhumbu district, eastern Nepal. This is also the closest place for tourists to start their climbing journey to conquer Everest Base Camp.
There are several flights daily carrying climbers from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu to Lukla. Although the flight time is around 25 to 30 minutes, the departure and arrival airports are worlds apart, with the latter boasting everything that would make a pilot sweat.
It’s not the world’s highest civilian airport, but Lukla’s altitude is still a challenge. The airport is surrounded by steep, mountainous terrain. The runway is short, perched on a cliff, and points straight down to the valley below.
At this altitude, air density is typically significantly lower than near sea level. This affects the power generated by the aircraft’s engines, reducing lift. The reduced air resistance also presents a challenge for pilots who want to slow down their aircraft.
The Lukla airport runway is more than 500 meters long while the runways in many international airports around the world are more than 3,000 meters long. Therefore, it is designed with a 12% slope to the mountain cliff so that the plane can decelerate in time.
The mountainous terrain surrounding the airport does not allow for circling. When a flight takes off, it must touch down. Therefore, only helicopters or small propeller planes are allowed.
Another danger is that the weather in the Himalayas is often unpredictable, with sudden fog, rainstorms or snowfall always a possibility. Clouds tend to appear in the afternoon, so most flights are scheduled for early morning. Delays to or from Lukla are also common.
Incidents at Lukla have reached double digits. The most serious was in 2008, when a Yeti Airlines flight crashed into a mountain after landing, meters short of the runway. The pilot was blinded by fog, killing all 16 passengers and two of the three crew. The pilot was the only survivor.
As a result, pilots flying here now must meet the high standards set by the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority. They must have completed 100 short takeoff and landing flights, at least one year of flying experience in Nepal, and completed 10 flights to Lukla under the supervision of a professional instructor.
