<photo: Lukla Airport is the place where most people start the climb to Everest Base Camp>
Lukla Airport, also known as the Tenzing-Hillary Airport after the first men to summit Everest, is the gateway to the Himalayas.
built in 1964, Lukla Airport has no radar system and a very short runway of just 500 metres, which is a tenth of the length of a normal runway. in addition, the runway is located on a steep slope on the edge of a cliff.
pilots landing at Lukla Airport have to rely on voice communications to get updates on traffic and weather, and on their eyes. located at almost 3,000 metres, any pilot mistake would mean the plane plunging off the cliff edge.
all this just at the start of the climb to Everest Base Camp. what else can go wrong?
<photos: top left - boarding the plane at Kathmandu Airport, top centre and right- on the way to Lukla, bottom row - landed at Lukla Airport, panoramic views of Lukla Airport>
"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do." Henry Ford