Certainly the first time you land in Lukla you will feel a little nervous but after a while you will get used to it. Lukla airport has a bad reputation and is always present in lists of the most dangerous airports in the world. The airport is quite popular as Lukla is the place where most people start their trek to the Khumbu and Everest Base Camp and Lukla is Nepal's busiest domestic airport, and in the peak season the airlines operate over 50 flights a day through the facility. If this is worrying you one comforting thought is that only the most experienced pilots in Nepal are flying to Lukla. This is why flights will often be cancelled and you could be stuck in Lukla waiting for a plane for days on end. Navigation is by sight only and you need to negotiate several layers of clouds which can hang on the high hill or rise from the deep valley. You also need to clear a high ridge, bank left, descend steeply, straighten the airplane and land. There is a big hill right behind the landing strip.
The approach is through a maze of spectacular mountain peaks and the air is often cluttered with clouds. The strip is at an elevation of 2800 m with a an abrupt drop off down to a river valley below. Considering the extreme landscape it was the best candidate for the engineers to construct the facility. Pilots throw their propellers into hard reverse before they touch down and gun the engines as they race down the hill for takeoff. Landing in Lukla leaves no room for error. No landing aids are available and Air Traffic Service is limited to AFIS (Aerodrome Flight Information Service) only. The apron has 4 stands and there is one heli-pad located 150m below the air traffic control tower. Its length is 450 m and width 20m and the runway incline is a staggering 12%.
The landing strip is built on the steep incline of a hillside. Lukla aiport was renamed Hillary Tensing Airport in 2008.
0 kommentar(er)
