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Worrying reason pilots will never fly over incredibly dangerous ‘roof of the world’ region

Worrying reason pilots will never fly over incredibly dangerous ‘roof of the world’ region

Commercial planes tend to not fly over the whole area

Pilots are warned against flying over the ‘roof of the world’ region and there's good reasons as to why.

You'll almost never see a commercial plane heading across the entire Tibetan Plateau, a massive high-altitude area in Central Asia - and it's not because we haven't got the tech.

The area has an average elevation of 14,000 feet, which is higher than a lot of peaks in the Alps, and is consider the highest region in the world - hence being called the 'roof'.

But this isn't just one mountain we're talking about here - the entire region stretches a whopping 970,000 square miles.

The Tibetan Plateau has an average elevation of 14,000 feet. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
The Tibetan Plateau has an average elevation of 14,000 feet. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

One of the many mountains found in the area is Mount Everest, the tallest point on Earth at over 29,000 feet high.

While most airliners have no problem going above 40,000 feet, it's still a very scary area to travel through because of the altitude.

Basically, because the air is super thin, it makes it tough for planes to maintain altitude if they hit any trouble.

If the worst were to happen, then an emergency landing wouldn't be possible.

There are barely any airports nearby and the with the surrounding landscape consisting of sharp rocks and glaciers, there's not exactly a safe landing strip in sight.

That being said, there's also the general weather pilots need to worry about too.

With brutal winds and sudden storms, turbulence could be a lot worse than normal.

Air captains tend to give the area a miss - because why risk it?

You'll almost never see a commercial plane heading across the Tibetan Plateau. (HUNJO LAMA/AFP via Getty Images)
You'll almost never see a commercial plane heading across the Tibetan Plateau. (HUNJO LAMA/AFP via Getty Images)

Taking to Quora, pilots have had their say on the area, with one former private pilot writing: "In general, civilian airliners do not fly anywhere near the Himalayas for safety reasons.

"If there is a loss of cabin pressure, the plane needs to descend to ten thousand feet as soon as possible.

"There is no place anywhere near Mt Everest where they could do that."

Meanwhile, others said it is possible to get to the highest peak - but only with the right route.

An F-16 pilot noted: "Mount Everest is 29,032 feet tall. With standard clearance of 2,000 feet and assuming standard instrument rules of flying in thousands of feet, an airliner would fly over Mount Everest at 32,000 or higher.

"Normal cruising altitude for most airliners is between 28,000 feet and 39,000 feet, so I would say yes, an airliner can easily fly over Mount Everest.

"If they do, it entirely depends on shortest route between origination and destination."

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Mount Everest, Travel, Weather