Himalayan Mountain Flight- Everest View
I and my elder son
Ravindra left for Kathmandu on 11th September,2011. Kathmandu
is at an altitude of 1000M. On 12th we tried to take the
mountain flight to see the Everest. But due to bad weather the flights were
cancelled. We tried on 13th. We waited at the airport for an hour
while a test flight was done. We were cleared to take off at 7am.
The aircraft was a
Beach Craft 1900 D capable of carrying 18 passengers and three crew. There are
9 seats on each side having a window view. However the front two seats are not
occupied. After about 15 minutes we were flying at 25000 ft, above the cloud
level and could see the mountain range. It was a magnificent sight.
A little later the
hostess pointed out to us the great Everest. It was absolutely thrilling. She gave
the names of some of the other peaks.
When we were flying
at about 29000 ft and quite close to the range, one by one the passengers were
invited into the cockpit, where you get a 180 deg. view. The glass is also much
clearer than the one in the passenger section. The pilots explained to us about
the range and showed us some more peaks. Each one of us had about two minutes.
Everyone was running
up and down the plane trying to get the best view. For about 20 minutes all
were greatly excited. Our co-passengers were from various countries. From
Canada, Brazil, Australia etc. and a newly married Indian couple from
Benagaluru.
We returned in about
an hour of flight. The hostess sold T shirts with the Everest Logo and some
CDs. I bought a T shirt. We were so thrilled some of us wore the shirt there
itself.
