From being ignorant of the earth thousands of years ago, to now being able to travel around the world freely, relying on faster and faster means of transportation. In ancient times, people traveled basically by walking, and the fast means of transportation were nothing more than horse-drawn carriages. Naturally, the area that could be explored by such backward means of transportation was also very limited. Therefore, in the eyes of the ancients, the earth was a vast world that could not be seen at a glance. .
When mankind entered the age of science and technology hundreds of years ago, with the rapid development of industry, fast vehicles appeared one after another. With these vehicles, the range we can go is getting bigger and bigger, especially after the emergence of airplanes, we are able to quickly reach farther places across the ocean.
Nowadays, airplanes have become the most common means of transportation for people to travel. According to a 2017 statistical data, there are more than 100,000 passenger planes flying over the earth every day, and each flight is calculated as 2 hours on average. If so, then the number of aircraft flying in the air at any time during the day must reach more than 10,000 sorties.
With so many airplanes flying in the air, because of the relatively high flying heights, we cannot feel that so many airplanes are constantly passing by while standing on the ground. Can so many planes fly randomly and travel through any air area on the earth?
In the eyes of many people, the altitude of the aircraft has reached more than 10,000 meters. This altitude is in the stratosphere, which is a very safe area in theory. Since the aircraft can fly more than 10,000 meters, it should be no problem to fly in any airspace on the earth.
Theoretically speaking, it is possible to fly anywhere high above the earth. As long as it reaches the stratosphere, every high-altitude corner cannot pose any threat to the aircraft. This is true in theory, but if you carefully observe and study, you will find that airplanes do not dare to fly anywhere in the air, especially for passenger airplanes. Considering safety factors, there are a few places where airplanes are basically avoided. , Such as Antarctica and the Himalayas.
Antarctica is the southernmost point of the earth. It is cold and uninhabited. It is understandable that airplanes do not pass through here. But the Himalayas is different, the surrounding area is still very densely populated. But such a dense area has to be reached quickly, and it is undoubtedly the shortest route to cross over the Himalayas, and it takes less time.
However, in the actual flight, the plane basically has to avoid crossing the Himalayas as much as possible. It would rather take a little more time to take a detour than to pass over the Himalayas. Why? Is there any dangerous area here? Some people may have heard of the Bermuda Triangle in the Pacific Ocean, where many ships and aircraft have disappeared in the past half a century.
The Bermuda Triangle has become a dangerous and mysterious area, and planes do not dare to pass over here easily. Some scientists have speculated that the marine environment here may be special and cause relatively large interference to electronic equipment, so the mystery will appear. Disappearance. Then the plane should avoid the sky over the Himalayas. Is it because the special environment here will cause interference to the plane?
In fact, the reason why the plane avoids the Himalayas is not because of the special environment here, nor the technical reason of the plane. Mainly because the Himalayas spans too long from east to west, reaching 2,400 kilometers, and its average altitude has reached more than 6,000 meters.
Such a high altitude has a relatively large impact on the aircraft. If it is just a mountain, even if the altitude reaches more than 6000 meters, the aircraft will not be afraid. But the span of the Himalayas is too large, thousands of kilometers long, hundreds of kilometers wide mountain range, will pose a great threat to the safety of aircraft. Some people may not understand: What threat does the height of the Himalayas pose to aircraft? There are several reasons for this.
The first reason is that the troubleshooting space is too small. We all know that aircraft will inevitably have some minor faults during the flight, and when these minor faults occur, it is not easy to handle them at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters. It is necessary to descend to a relatively low altitude. For example, if an airplane needs to be decompressed, the altitude must be lowered below 3000 meters to be safe.
However, the average altitude of the Himalayas is above 6000 meters. Where can I find a sky below 3000 meters? In addition, the aircraft’s engine is the core, and this is also the place where minor faults are prone to occur frequently. Once the engine fails, when the fault is dealt with in time, it is also necessary to lower the aircraft to 3000 meters, where the atmospheric pressure can ensure the normal operation of the engine.
The Himalayas have an average altitude of 6,000 meters, which severely limits the disposal space after an aircraft breaks down. Therefore, passenger planes dare not cross the Himalayas and need to avoid them as much as possible. Only fighter aircrafts may pass over the Himalayas when needed.
The second reason is that there are too few landing opportunities in an emergency. When an airplane, especially a passenger plane, is flying at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters, once there is an unsolvable failure, it is necessary to make an emergency landing for the safety of people. The landing of the aircraft is not random, it requires a flat professional runway, usually landing at a nearby airport.
If the situation is really dangerous and there is no airport nearby, you can only use satellite navigation to find a relatively flat place for an emergency landing. These conditions cannot be met in the Himalayas. It is important to know that the entire Himalayas region is steeped in mountains and high mountains, there is almost no flat land, and there are only two decent airports.
Once there is an urgent problem during the flight in the Himalayas, it may be a life of nine deaths for the plane. In plain areas, once an aircraft fails, it needs to lower its altitude first and then find a way. But in the Himalayas, the aircraft descends 1,000 meters from an altitude of 10,000 meters and may fly next to the mountain. This is how dangerous it is.
The third reason is the turbulence problem. Because of the low pollution near the Himalayas, the turbulence in the atmosphere is very clear. In this state, the recognition ability of the radar will be affected. If the radar misrecognizes it, the aircraft can easily rush into the turbulence directly, causing turbulence and harm to the people on the aircraft.
I believe that many friends have encountered this kind of sudden turbulence when flying on an airplane, which is actually the result of air turbulence. According to the FAA report, air turbulence can be ranked first in non-fatal aircraft accidents, showing its threat to people. Therefore, during the flight, the aircraft needs to avoid the air turbulence area in time based on the information scanned by the radar.
In addition to the above three main reasons, the plane chose to avoid the Himalayas, and another reason was the problem of fuel freezing. It is important to know that the Himalayas itself is a relatively cold area. If you fly over this area for a long time, the possibility of fuel freezing is very high. During the flight of the aircraft, this situation is avoided by lowering the altitude. But in the Himalayas, lowering the height is very difficult.
Through the above analysis of several reasons, I believe that my friends also understand why the plane chooses to avoid the Himalayas. Of course, this is not an absolute result. In fact, with the continuous development of human science and technology, future aircraft will be more advanced and safer. At that time, we don’t need to avoid the Himalayas, but pass over it to enjoy this different kind of beautiful scenery.