A Look At Lukla Airport"s Accident-Ridden History

Over 50 people have died during take-offs and landings at or near Lukla airport.

Lukla Airport is considered the most dangerous in the world and has been for many years. While it is known as the gateway to Mount Everest, the ascent to which has killed hundreds of trekkers, the real danger starts at the airport. Over 50 people have died by take-offs, landings, or approaching the airport due to its predominantly poor weather and insufficient navigation systems. Let’s look at the airfield and some of its deathliest accidents.

Read more: Fuel for thought

Tenzing-Hillary Airport

This domestic airport is known as Lukla Airport but was renamed in 2008 to Tenzing-Hillary to honor Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary, who were the first people to summit Mount Everest. It is a hub in the town of Lukla, in Khumbu Pasanglhamu, Solukhumbu District, in Province No.1 in Nepal.

It is known as the base airport for trekkers climbing Mount Everest because there are daily flights between Lukla and Kathmandu – if they haven’t been canceled due to adverse weather conditions – and the flying distance is a quick 30-minute ride. Lukla is a small, domestic hub and can only accommodate smaller turboprops that can carry about 16 people, such as De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters, Pilatus PC-6 Porters, Dornier Do-228s, and L-410 Turbolets.

The airport was built in 1964, spearheaded by Sir Edmund Hillary. His vision was to make it on flat farmlands, but locals were reluctant to give up their land, so now it sits at a high altitude of 2,859 meters above sea level and is surrounded by 7,000-meter-high peaks. Hillary bought the land for USUSD 2,650, and the one runway, which offered significant soil resistance, wasn’t paved until 2001.

While the airport is surrounded by beautiful scenery and is close to the tallest mountain in the world, its location poses a significant danger for aircraft flying in and out.

Dangerous surroundings

The airport isn’t known as the most dangerous in the world for no reason. There have been many accidents at Lukla and surrounding areas, and seven fatal ones killed over 50 people. Due to its high-altitude position, conditions at the airport are quite turbulent. In fact, about 50% of all scheduled flights in the afternoon are canceled because of poor visibility.

One reason the airport is known for its danger is its no-go-around procedure. Most international runways are more than 10,000 feet long, but Lukla’s is just over 1,700 feet. The high altitude creates thinner air and makes it hard for aircraft to generate enough thrust for a go-around, but reduced resistance means the plane doesn’t slow down as quickly, which makes landing risky. However, the runway is on a 12% incline to assist the aircraft in slowing down faster.

Without a go-around procedure available due to the dangerous terrain, landings must happen regardless of external factors. This means if there is any issue during landing, the lack of radar and navigation, on top of poor weather, leads to frequent incidents.

Accident-ridden from the beginning

Every airport has accidents associated with its name, which is the nature of aviation. The first incident occurred 11 years after the airport was built on October 15th, 1973. A Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 had a crash landing and could not be repaired. While none of the three crew and passengers were hurt, this was the beginning of a tumultuous history of deadly incidents at Lukla.

Two of the deadliest crashes at Lukla were in 2008 and 2012. The former saw a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 operated by Yeti Airlines – registered as 9N-AFE – take off from Kathmandu Airport at 06:51 on Wednesday, October 8th, on a domestic flight to Lukla. As the Twin Otter approached Lukla, visibility was abysmal, and without radar signaling, the aircraft came into contact with rocks near the runway, crashed, and caught on fire. Out of all 19 passengers and crew, only the captain survived. A government member who was part of the investigation said:

“The crew made incorrect judgment of information on deteriorating weather condition and flew the aircraft into a patch of cloud.”

The following deadly incident occurred on Friday, September 28th, 2012. While this was not at Lukla airport, it happened at Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM), not far from Tenzing-Hillary. A Dornier 228-202 passenger plane, operated by Sita Air, was cleared for take-off from runway 20 at 06:12. As the aircraft approached 70 knots, the first officer instructed a ‘Vee one rotate.’ The plane began the rotation but did not lift off the ground.

Aviation Safety Network described that as the aircraft began to climb, it accelerated to 89 knots for about two seconds and then rose 100 feet above the runway for 11 seconds, but with decreasing speed. ASN said:

“The aircraft then flew level for 14 seconds, during which time the following occurred: the speed decreased to 69 kt; the air traffic controller asked, “Any technical?” to which the pilot replied “[uncertain]… due bird hit”; it’s heading changed slowly from 200 °M to approximately 173 °M, and the stall warning was triggered for three seconds as the aircraft decelerated through 71 kt.”

Two seconds after the stall warning stopped, it triggered again, and as the aircraft descended, it crashed into a small area about 420 meters southeast of the runway. All 19 onboard were killed. According to the investigation, the drag on the aircraft was greater than the power, and the pilot did not maintain airspeed above stall speed, leading to insufficient height available to recover.

In 2010, a Dornier Do 228-101 passenger plane departed from Kathmandu at 07:04 on its way to Lukla. But quickly into the flight, the clouds were closing in, and the pilot decided to return to Kathmandu. The captain indicated a generator malfunction shortly after but didn’t state it was an emergency. He tried to switch to a backup generator, but this was unsuccessful. Without the ability to divert to Simara Airport due to closures, the pilot attempted to approach Kathmandu visually but crashed into a hillside near Bastipur, Nepal. All 14 passengers were killed.