Why Don’t Airplanes Fly Over The Himalayas And The Pacific Ocean? | No Planes Over Pacific
You can travel the entire world on a flight, but you can never fly over the Pacific Ocean because no pilot dares to fly a plane over the Pacific Ocean. It has often been observed that airlines do not cover the distance through the Himalayas and the Pacific Ocean, but instead choose other alternative routes, even if the planes have to travel long distances.
So it is a matter of simple logic which we had read many times in school times too, that is, the Pacific Ocean is the world's largest ocean, in which there is no trace of land anywhere or no piece of land in midst of the ocean. But suppose if anytime any plane is flying over there and by mistake, there occurs an emergency even without wanting, then the plane will not be able to land in the water. So to avoid this situation, airlines usually look for some such routes that are safe and secure, and which also have emergency facilities available.
Airplanes avoid flying over the Pacific Ocean and opt for curved routes because curved routes are more safer and secure, helping them in spending less time over the ocean and allowing emergency landings to be made easier. As already known, airplanes always make emergency landings on a flat surface. Also, Pilots consider it appropriate to fly the aircraft on the route where maximum airports are present in terms of safety so that the airplane can be landed easily in case of an emergency.
Moreover, the Himalayan region is also not safe for an emergency landing as this region does not have a flat surface. Additionally, the risk factor also increases because there are mountains everywhere. The height of all the Himalayan peaks is more than 20 thousand feet and only Mount Everest has an altitude of around 29000 feet which is not even considered ideal for aerial flying as all commercial flights typically fly between 31,000 and 38,000 feet to avoid all weather-related events. Also, the wind speed on the Himalayan peaks is abnormal, which can have a bad effect on the speed of the airplanes, resulting in passengers may also feel uncomfortable during traveling.
Another reason is due to the low population in the Himalayan regions, Navigation radar service is also negligible, which can make it very difficult for the pilot to communicate with the ground, and even in case of emergency, the pilot will not be able to get any help.