(ORDO NEWS) — Right now, thousands of passenger planes are flying over the Earth they allow people to cover great distances in the shortest possible time.
A plane flying in the sky can be seen even in small villages, and in large cities this is generally an ordinary phenomenon.
The least aircraft are found over the cold corners of our planet – it is almost impossible to see an aircraft in Antarctica. For some people, it may come as a big discovery that planes also rarely fly over the Himalayan mountains.
On the one hand, this is logical, because there is the largest peak in the world, Mount Everest with a height of more than 8.5 thousand meters.
On the other hand, high-speed airliners can fly at an altitude of up to 13,000 meters, and high mountains are not an obstacle for them. So why did they stay away from the Himalayas?
There are several reasons for this.
In fact, people have everything they need to fly over the Himalayas. Of course, small planes fly at an altitude of up to 6,000 meters and cannot fly over mountains, but for high-speed airliners this is quite a feasible task.
To do this, you need to equip the aircraft with additional equipment, know the routes for the safest flight and, most importantly, obtain permission from the Chinese authorities. Let’s take a look at each of these points.
High altitude aircraft
Only specially equipped aircraft are allowed to fly over the Himalayan mountains. At high altitudes, people can feel the lack of air, so every aircraft is equipped with an oxygen tank.
Usually, the air supply that is supplied to the masks of passengers when the cabin is depressurized is enough for 20 minutes.
This time is enough for the pilots to reduce the flight altitude to 3,000 meters, where there are no problems with the air.
However, flying over the Himalayan mountains, it is difficult for pilots to make such a maneuver. The fact is that the average height of the ridges is 6,000 meters.
If passengers experience air shortages mid-flight, pilots will have to travel many miles to find a place to lower their altitude – this can take much more than two tens of minutes. If the oxygen runs out, a crash will occur.
Therefore, in order to obtain permission to fly over the Himalayas, airline companies need to increase the volume of the oxygen tank.
Safe routes to fly over the Himalayas
During a flight over the Himalayas, aircraft failure may occur. For example, one of the engines may stop working.
It sounds scary, but the liners are able to fly with one engine – this turns on the One Engine Inoperative (OEI) mode. In this state, the plane flies, but much lower than usual.
Given the high altitude of the Himalayan mountains, flying on a single engine is an extremely dangerous undertaking. However, there are several routes that can be overcome even at low altitude.
These paths have been found by experts from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and must be learned by the crew of every aircraft that intends to overcome the Himalayas.
The most preferred route in the event of an engine failure is the L888, which is also known as the “Silk Road”. In addition to it, there are auxiliary Y1, Y2 and Y3.
Permission to fly over the Himalayas
It would seem that in order to fly over the largest mountain range on Earth, you just need to improve the plane and learn safe routes.
But not everything is so simple – after equipping the aircraft with the necessary equipment, you need to obtain permission from regulators from the United States and Europe. This is a very long process that requires money.
But that’s not all – after that, you need to obtain permission to fly from the Chinese authorities. Aviation companies must notify their intention two months before the flight. And it is not a fact that the route will be allowed, because it is very risky.
In the end, it turns out that it is much more profitable for airlines to fly around the Himalayas. This requires more time and fuel, but passengers will be safe and no one will get tired of paperwork.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.