Airplanes rarely fly over Tibet for what reasons?
Airplanes are a popular and convenient option for many people who want to travel long distances. Thousands of flights take place every day. However, there are still a few rare places in the world that planes can’t or don’t want to fly to like Tibet (China).
Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Tibet stretches over 1.2 million square kilometers, accounting for one-eighth of China’s total area.
Instead of flying directly over Tibet, planes often choose to take a longer detour. In fact, the plane did not choose to fly over Tibet for safety reasons.
1. Danger of crashing into a mountain
First of all, in order for an aircraft to fly normally at a high altitude, it must be a certain height above the ground.
We all know that the terrain in Tibet is very high, not only has Mount Everest higher than 8,000m, this plateau also has many other mountain ranges higher than 7,000m.
If the plane wants to fly normally here, the flight altitude must reach over 10,000m. However, when flying at an altitude of over 10,000m, the aircraft may encounter some bad weather conditions, very easily hitting the mountains.
2. Danger of emergency landing
If the plane is really experiencing some kind of emergency at high altitude or bad weather conditions and wants to make an emergency landing at this time, the pilot will not be able to find a backup plan or a nearby airport. .
Because Tibet is quite large, but the distance between each airport is relatively far. Furthermore, the Qinghai-Tibet region has few plains, so suitable land is rarely used for airport construction.
3. Danger of fuel freezing
The air in Tibet is relatively cold, the higher you are, the lower the temperature will be compared to the ground. If the plane were to fly at this altitude, a lot of fuel would be in danger of freezing.
Once the fuel is frozen, the plane cannot start normally, there have been many such cases in history. When the aircraft is in a relatively low temperature environment, due to a fuel freezing problem, the aircraft cannot be started, causing great danger.
4. Risk of altitude sickness
Even when there is an emergency that forces the plane to make an emergency landing somewhere in Tibet, many people can experience very severe altitude sickness due to lack of oxygen at high altitudes.
Without early detection and prompt treatment, altitude sickness can lead to shock and death.
So after considering a range of risks, most planes will not essentially fly directly over Tibet. Besides, due to the remote geographical location, when choosing to travel to Tibet, many tourists are also concerned about safety issues, so they do not want to risk choosing a direct flight.
However, with the continuous development of the Tibetan area, there are still airports and aircraft operating in this locality. For example, China’s Sichuan Airlines has a direct flight over Tibet, but weather permits.
However, most airlines would not choose to fly over Tibet because even a small incident can lead to a serious plane crash. Because when the plane is in flight, any unexpected situation will increase the level of danger.
If you want to travel to Tibet, people can choose to take the train to Lhasa, then switch to other means of transportation, trying not to fly directly to Tibet.
Although it is a much safer mode of travel than the road, in history, there are still many aviation incidents. Therefore, traveling by plane still has certain dangers. Moreover, when a plane crash occurs, the consequences are very cruel because the casualties are very serious.
