Lukla airport or Tenzing-Hillary airport

Lukla, airport, Everest region Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary airport in the Everest region of Nepal is one of the most dangerous airports in the world situated at an altitude of 2.800m in Solukhumbu district.
The short runway (460 meters) is only suitable for short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) aircrafts (like the twin-otters of Tara Air/Yeti Airlines) and helicopters, has a gradient of 12% and ends with a stone wall on one side (uphill) and a small abyss at the other side (downhill), followed by a deep valley a little further on.
Once the pilot starts the take-off there is no turning back and the attempt should be succesfull. The same applies for landing since a mountain behind the other side of the runway makes a go-around impossible.
Flights are mostly operated between dawn and noon when the weather conditions are good (good visibility and not too much wind), so sometimes the airport is closed for one of several days or even more than a week, causing many locals and tourists to be stranded.

Accidents
Every now and then small to serious accidents happen at Lukla airport or on the way to/from Lukla. Few recent examples are:

October 16, 2011
A Nepal Airlines plane met with a minor accident Sunday afternoon after it skidded off the run way at Lukla Airport in Solukhumbu district. The aircraft was hired by Tara Air. The 9N-AVO twin-otter went out of control due to the failure of the hydraulic break in the runway, according to airport sources.
19 persons on board the aircraft including 16 passengers and 3 crew members are safe.
October 7, 2011
Tara Air cargo aircraft skids off runway in Lukla.
The 9N AIV Pilatus porter aircraft of the Tara Air skidded off the runway in Lukla, around noon Thursday. The plane met with the mishap at 12:15 pm while trying to land carrying a cargo from Ramechhap, as it hit a gate of the Hotel La Villa 15 metres away from the runway after being uncontrolled while landing, witnesses told RSS. Although the aircraft has been totally damaged, Captain Kosh Thapa is unhurt, said the Lukla Civil Aviation Office. Last year, Sita Air had similar accident here, and the aircraft is still there.
October 24, 2010
15 people killed when a Lukla bound aircraft of Agni Air crashed in Makwanpur, south of Kathmandu during bad weather conditions
October 8, 2008
Twelve German tourists among 18 people killed when a passenger plane crashed during landing at Lukla

Other news items

Over 1,000 tourists again stranded in Everest region (17-11-2011)
Tourists returning to Kathmandu from Solukhumbu district have been stranded after cancellation of flights from Tenzing Hillary Airport and Faplu of Khumbu area of the district on Wednesday due to unfavorable weather condition, RSS reports. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Lukla and Faplu offices, as many as 930 tourists are stranded in Lukla and more than 70 in Faplu as they could not return to Kathmandu due to adverse weather.

Bad weather disrupts flights to Lukla Airport, Thousands of tourists stranded (03-11-2011)
SOLUKHUMBU: No flight has been made to the Tenjing-Hillary Airport, Lukla, on the third consecutive day on Thursday, due to unfavorable weather, where more than 50 flights were made in each day. Thousands of foreign tourists, who want to return to Kathmandu completing their trekking, have been stranded in Lukla due to the disruption of flights. Dangima Sherpa, a hotelier, said tourists have been packed in hotels of Lukla Bazaar due to the bad weather for the past three days.

Over 1500 stranded tourists rescued (nepalnews.com 21-11-2010)
More than 1,500 tourists and passengers stranded at Lukla, the only airport for the Everest region, for more than a week have been rescued on Saturday with the help of the Army helicopters and other helicopters and airplanes operated by private airlines. They were stranded there due to bad weather in the region which hindered the operation of regular flights to and from Lukla.

Video's

Below you'll find 2 video's about Lukla airport: