Why do airplanes avoid flying over Pacific Ocean and Mt Everest? (2024)

New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 10, 2020 19:25 IST

Airplanes often avoid air paths that take them over Mt Everest or the Pacific Ocean. But have you ever wondered why commercial flights avoid flying over these locations? Well, a Quora user recently broke down the reason behind this and it is the most interesting thing you will read today.

Quora user Debapriyo Mukherjee took to the social media app to answer the question, why do planes not fly over Mt Everest or the Pacific Ocean?

According Debapriyo, most commercial airlines avoid flying directly over the Himalayas. This is because "the Himalayas have mountains higher than 20,000 feet, including Mt Everest standing at 29,035 feet. However, most commercial airplanes can fly at 30,000 feet."

She added, "So to fly at a safe distance above the Himalayas, flights have to go even further into the lower part of the stratosphere. The air is extremely thin in the stratosphere. Oxygen levels will be also low. This will cause air turbulence and uneasiness to the passengers. In addition to this, the force of the wind will be strong and the presence of mountains makes the manoeuvring of the aircraft even more difficult."

The Quora user also pointed out that curved routes are safer as airlines then fly over land rather than the ocean. Therefore, they spend less time over the ocean, allowing for emergency landings. "Emergency landing is done on a flat land. The Himalayan region has almost no flat surfaces. On top of this, the risk factor only increases as there are mountains everywhere."

She also pointed out the risk of oxygen running out in these areas, as airlines usually have only twenty minutes of oxygen. "So in a situation where the supply runs out, the flight must descend to at least 10,000 feet to replenish oxygen, which is known as Drift Down Procedure. But in the Himalayas, descending to 10,000 feet is suicide.

Also being a low-populated area, radar services are almost non-existent in the Himalayas. So there is no mode with which the pilot can communicate with the ground.

Another reason, why commercial planes don’t fly over Himalayas, Debapriyo said is that the Indian Air Force and the People's Liberation Army Air Force conduct training sessions in the region. They restrict commercial airlines from flying above them.

As for airlines avoiding flying directly over the Pacific Ocean, though there are always exceptions, she said that airplanes choose curved routes as they go over land and are shorter than straight routes.

"Flat maps are confusing because the earth itself isn’t flat. As a result, straight routes don’t offer the shortest distance. You can conduct an experiment with a globe to prove this. Identify two locations, such as the US and the middle of Asia, and then connect a piece of a string directly between these two areas to mimic a straight route. Use a marker to highlight the distance. Then similarly measure a curved path. Assuming you followed these steps correctly, you’ll discover that the curved route is physically shorter than the straight route," she wrote.

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