3/22/2021 0 Comments Lukla Airport Landing
Despite the risk associated with flying in Lukla, the airport and its approach are said to be one of the most beautiful in the world, with flights taking in some of the most magnificent peaks of the Himalayas.
Lukla Airport Landing How To Enable JavaScriptHere are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.On Saturday a light aircraft departing Lukla Airport veered off the runway and collided with a stationary helicopter, killing the pilot of the plane and two others standing nearby.An investigation into the accident has begun but officials have said the weather was good, and flights resumed later that day. The airport officially known as Tenzing-Hillary Airport, after Edmund Hillary, who supervised its construction in 1964, and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, is infamous for its challenging operating conditions, in terms of terrain, weather and infrastructure. Airfields such as Luklas are among the most remote and difficult to land on in the world, reads the Foreign Office (FCO) guidance on air travel in Nepal, and are a challenge for even the most technically proficient pilots and well-maintained aircraft. There have been at least five other accidents since the turn of the century. Pilots arriving into Lukla must first navigate the vast peaks of the Himalayas, often cloaked in cloud, before lining up for an approach without the modern navigation systems used at most airports; arriving flight crew must know the terrain well. They then have one of the shortest runways in the world to contend with, at just 1,729 feet long (Heathrows shortest is 12,008 feet), which ends abruptly at a brick wall. ![]() The airports altitude means the air is thinner so planes have no choice but to arrive faster, too. For departures, flight crew must rumble down the steep tarmac (an 11 per cent gradient), knowing should they not be airborne by the end of it, a steep cliff awaits. Weather changes and the steep terrain sometimes make landing impossible. Accordingly, pilots have to be certified especially to land at Lukla, having made at least 100 landings and take-offs on short runways and worked in such conditions for at least a year in Nepal. Before being allowed to fly solo, they must have completed 10 landings and take-offs in Lukla with a qualified instructor. An indication of the type of weather pilots might expect at Tenzing-Hillary can be gleaned from a 2011 report of dense fog that grounded flights for a week, stranding thousands. Though some managed to charter helicopters to make the 40-minute journey back to Kathmandu, where international flights operate, as many as 3,500 were left in the small mountain village, with some sleeping in tents on the airstrip. Others opted for the five-day trek to Jiri, and the nearest road. Concerns regarding aviation safety in the country extend beyond the airport at Lukla, with the Foreign Office issuing a general warning regarding air travel in Nepal. It refers to four accidents since 2012, including the crash of a US Bangla Airlines flight last year, on landing at Kathmandu, which killed 51 passengers. ![]() A number of tour operators have decided to stop using certain airlines due to safety concerns. Specific safety concerns about Sita Air have led a number of tour operators to stop using them. As it stands, three airlines serve Lukla: Tara Air, Sita Air and Summit Air, to which the plane involved in the weekends crash belonged.
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