Lukla Motion — Mostly Harmless

AS WITH ANY FLIGHT, I looked for the calm demeanor of the steward to ease my anxiety, but once we neared the tiny landing strip vicariously perched atop a 2,000 foot cliff, she sat rocking in her seat, hands tucked tightly under her beige nylon-clad thighs, like a schoolgirl waiting outside the principal’s office. She was nervous, and it showed.

We knew going into it that the flight to Lukla was a dangerous one, but this brief, 45-minute flight cut six days (SIX DAYS!) off of our trek, so we went for it, despite the well-known risks.

IN SOUTHERN NEPAL, near the border with Tibet, the aerial approach to the town of Lukla sits at 9,334 feet in the Himalaya Mountains, home of 14 of the 20 highest mountains in the world. Named after the famous duo who first conquered Mt. Everest, Tenzing-Hillary Airport was featured on The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports, as the most dangerous in the world.

Delayed and cancelled flights are common due to regular cloud cover and strong mountain winds. The runway is a mere 1,729 feet (527 m) by 90 feet (30 m), and is accessible only to helicopters or short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft. Other risks are posed due to arriving and departing flights using the same runway.

Once in the Himalaya, cairns often show the way to the next town.

IMPOSING WHITE MONSTERS filled every inch of the upper windshield, making the scrub-laden ridge up ahead seem sea level despite its altitude of more than 9,000 feet. The frozen peaks dominated with masterful purity.

Our sardine can aircraft lifted and dipped, and was pushed from side to side like a cattail in a windstorm, and the persistent hum of the engines drowned out all other noises. I determined Fer’s mental state by facial expressions alone. A vibrating tickle climbed up my arms and eventually became a dull numbness. Dangerously thin air meant breathing became less and less involuntary. I found myself gulping visibly to get the level of oxygen my brain craved.

Seeing the runway get larger through the windshield and the pilots’ scrambling hands was a terrifying thrill. We had one shot to stick this landing. Too low and we hit the side of the cliff and explode on impact. Too fast and we hit the stone retaining wall bordering the end of the short runway…and explode on impact. One errant gust of wind at the wrong moment could end all of us in an instant.

We hit the ground hard, but precisely as planned and fishtailed across the runway. The retaining wall was getting closer, so the pilot gave every ounce of energy to stopping the craft, and we as cargo clutched our seats to keep from shifting too far forward. Neighborhood kids had gathered to watch the landing (or other), and scattered as we taxied to what passed in Lukla as the arrivals gate.

Alive and relieved, we strapped on our packs and planned our approach. This was day one of a 12-day trek to the Sacred Lakes of Gokyo Ri. We aimed our boots at Benkar (our first overnight), refusing to imagine what the flight out might be like, and began to put one foot in front of the other.

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VERDICT: Mostly Harmless - but real dangers abound, especially when flying into Lukla. Be cautious in all you do while at elevation and while exposed in the Himalaya.

Nupla peak at 19,307 feet (5,885 meters), keeps watch over Lukla, and their knock-off Starbucks.

LINKS:

Lukla, Nepal - small Sherpa village at 9,186 feet (2,800 m), and the gateway to the Khumbu region and Mt. Everest.

Himalaya Mountain Range - Asian mountain system containing the highest mountains in the world, with more than 110 peaks higher than 24,000 feet (7,300 m).

Tenzing-Hillary Airport (Lukla Airport) - known as the most dangerous runway in the world, at 9,334 feet.