Airlines Skip Tibet for Safety Reasons

Commercial airplanes usually fly in straight lines, but they skip the big, high area called the Tibetan Plateau.

The plateau is very high, about 4,500 metres, so if a plane loses cabin pressure it would have to go down to 10,000 feet to stay safe.

That would take too long over the plateau.

Also, if one engine fails, the plane can’t stay high enough to clear the very tall mountains like Mount Everest.

Finally, there are almost no airports on the plateau where a big plane could land in an emergency.

Because of all these safety problems, airlines choose routes that go around the plateau instead of over it.