Tenzing-Hillary Airport/ The Most Dangerous In The World

Since I might not have time to explain this flight when I get to Nepal, I thought a good preview was in order.

This is the early morning flight that takes you from Katmandu to the standard start of the Everest trek, Lukla.   It is otherwise known as the Tenzing-Hillary Airport (for those who don't live on planet Earth, the first known summiteers of the famous mountain) and is considered by Google, amongst others, as THE most dangerous airport in the world. This is due to high winds and altitude, cloud coverage, lack of visibility, etc.  There have been many plane crashes with numerous fatalities. I know one of the airlines to service it is called Yeti airlines, a name which doesn't really inspire confidence.

Apparently the airport is chaos, the planes are not exactly the most modern (some don't even have seat belts, but I guess at the point of a plane crash, will it make a difference?!!) and authors of many blogs seem to be surprised that these planes take off at all!! The views are apparently amazing, if the windows aren't too scratched from age, and the stewardess gives you a boiled sweet when you take off to relieve the tension.

To be fair, my research's  (John Lambert's book) shows that the planes are Twin Otters which were built by DeHavilland in Canada and first flown in 1965.  They are twin engine turbo props which are capable of speeds of 150-300 kph.  They are highly versatile and maneuverable and can  do short take off and landing, which is what you need in this airport.

There is one airstrip, 1476 feet in length on a 9% (some say 12% depending on which book you read) incline and this incline can give pilots spatial disorientation.  The incline stops the plane hitting the cliff on one end when it lands, and helps it accelerate when it is taking off so it doesn't fall off the drop on the other end. Its altitude is 2840 meters. The airport can only be navigated in good weather and there still are no navigational aids.

Scary, scary, scary. I must say, this is one flight that I will not be looking forward to. But because some of the flights make deliveries to the region, I might be able to hug a small chicken when I get nervous.  One of the many exciting things that make up the Everest challenge...