• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Scary reason why every plane in the world avoids flying over this zone

Home> News> Travel

Published 16:36 4 Aug 2024 GMT+1

Scary reason why every plane in the world avoids flying over this zone

Many airlines refuse to fly over this area for a number of reasons

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

Just like there's parts of the ocean that cruise ships avoid sailing over, there's also parts of the world that planes don't fly over either.

Drake's Passage has been dubbed one of the most dangerous strait in the world. The waterway connects the Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean, with the Southern Ocean located just below.

It's traitorous waters are believed to have sank around 800 ships over the decades, claiming hundreds of lives in the process.

With this in mind, it's understandable that a lot of cruise ships try and avoid going through Drake Passage if possible.

And there's a land alternative to Drake Passage as well that's a huge no-go for pilots to fly over, and that's the Tibetan Plateau in Southwest China.

Advert

The region is a whopping 2,500,000 square kilometers, so it's arguably a pretty large area to be avoiding.

But why do airlines avoid it, I hear you ask? It all comes down to Tibet's mountainous area.

Cho Oyu North Face rising above the Himalaya mountain range. (Dani Salva/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Cho Oyu North Face rising above the Himalaya mountain range. (Dani Salva/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The average elevation in the region is around 14,800 feet and while that's substantially lower that then 31,000 feet to 42,000 feet commercial airlines typically fly at, it can still cause problems.

Advert

In an emergency situation a plane will need to drop down to 10,000 feet within a certain amount of time so that safe oxygen levels can be reached. With this in mind, should a flight happen to need to drop down this level while traveling over the Tibetan Plateau it would be impossible as the plane would likely crash into one of the region's massive mountains.

Tibet Airlines flight seen leaving Lhasa airport. (YouTube/@adamli8774)
Tibet Airlines flight seen leaving Lhasa airport. (YouTube/@adamli8774)

Another sticky situation a plane would find itself in if it encountered an emergency situation in and around Tibet is the lack of airports to land at as there are only five major airports in the autonomous region of China.

Like Drake's Passage, the Tibetan Plateau can experience some extreme weather conditions meaning there's an increased chance of fights having turbulence.

Advert

The region is known of its strong winds and sudden weather changes, making for unfavorable flying conditions.

It's also known for hitting extremely cold temperatures which poses a risk of the jet's fuel freezing over.

According to Simple Flying, Standard Jet A1 fuel has a freezing point of -47 degrees Celsius, while Jet A is slightly higher at -40 degrees.

Advert

Such temperatures like these are seldom reached but it wouldn't be impossible for airlines to experience these cold climes at altitude while flying over Tibet's already cold mountains.

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/geoglobetales/Getty/Space Frontiers

Topics: Travel, News, China

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Reason why you can't ever see stars outside plane window when you're flying
  • Disturbing reason why flight had to be canceled after woman had 'severe diarrhea' and issued public apology
  • Experts reveal reason behind 'spike' in plane crashes this year after latest accident kills 12 people
  • Man explains why you should never buy a plane ticket if you see this symbol when booking

Choose your content:

9 mins ago
22 mins ago
an hour ago
  • 9 mins ago

    Tom Cruise 'denied' major offer from Trump after dodging questions about the president

    Donald Trump reportedly wanted to honor Tom Cruise in December

    Celebrity
  • 22 mins ago

    Man accused of fleeing country and faking his own death to avoid rape charge has been convicted of sexual assault

    Nicholas Rossi is set to be sentenced later this year

    News
  • an hour ago

    Jimmy Fallon seemingly left 'uncomfortable' after Helen Mirren claims popular fruit is 'bisexual'

    The Oscar-winning actor shared how she stimulates her tomatoes when harvesting them, leaving Jimmy Fallon pleading with her to stop

    Celebrity
  • an hour ago

    Mom accused of killing husband allegedly made chilling confession to lover as police reveal new details

    Jennifer Gledhill allegedly confessed all to a man she was seeing behind her husband's back

    News