Is this a photo of Everest?

I took a photo of the Himalayas on a flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa while sitting on the right hand side of the plane. The photo appears to show two mountains that reach up above the clouds.

I showed the photo to three people who have been to Everest before. Two of them said it was Everest while the other person said it wasn't.

Can someone here confirm whether one of the mountains in the photo is Everest?

Please only comment if you are certain about what Everest looks like from different angles because I know that Everest may look different depending on which side of the mountain you are on.

The photo is also attached here: postimg.org/image/8l3vb85gd

Thanks.

Photo

No, that's definitely not Everest.

^^^ Hahahah

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Hmm. May I ask either of you to elaborate on your response?

Have either of you been to Everest before and know how it looks from different angles? When I search for Mount Everest on a Google image search I know that it appears differently depending on where the photo is taken.

I come from a long lineage of elite Everest Sherpas. I also have a PhD in orography.

it's been 16 years, but i'm pretty sure Everest was out the left side of the plane flying to Lhasa from Nepal

For some reason I felt like playing Sherlock on this.

Anyway, looking at flight paths on Flightradar24, it looks like most all of the flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa pass through the Himalaya to the east of Makalu National Park (which is SE of Everest). So unless your plane took a different flight path, a pic out the right side while heading to Lhasa would not capture Everest. I put a pin on Everest for reference:

flight from kathmandu to lhasa
flightradar24.com/data/flig…

Thanks Erik. I took a China Airlines flight CA408, but Flight Radar appears to show the same flight route.

To your knowledge is there any flight where the view of Everest is to the right hand side of the plane? Also would you say that Flight Radar is a reliable data source?

Sure, I took this one from the right side while flying from Bangkok to Kathmandu.

Plane ride from Bangkok to Kathmandu. Definitely sit on the right side if you can. Everest and Nuptse-Lhotse wall.

As for reliability of Flightradar24, your guess is as good as mine. I found out about them from the WSJ, which used them to discuss the flight path of the Malaysian airliner that was shot down over Ukraine.

Erik W wrote:For some reason I felt like playing Sherlock on this. Anyway, looking at flight paths on Flightradar24, it looks like most all of the flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa pass through the Himalaya to the east of Makalu National Park (which is SE of Everest). So unless your plane took a different flight path, a pic out the right side while heading to Lhasa would not capture Everest. I put a pin on Everest for reference: flightradar24.com/data/flig…

My understanding, at least in the US, is that for each flight there are usually several paths available depending on weather. There is usually one goto path, but they could take any one of several...

Stagg54 wrote: My understanding, at least in the US, is that for each flight there are usually several paths available depending on weather. There is usually one goto path, but they could take any one of several...

Absolutely a possibility - hence why I made the disclaimer. That said, every flight path I clicked on showed the same general corridor for passing through the Himalaya en route to Lhasa.

If you click 'play' on the flight path and view the altitude progression it might give an indication as to why... heading east allows for a more gradual climb rate than would be required if the plane headed NE directly at one of the Himalayas most crowded region of 8000m peaks (Cho Oyu, Everest-Lhotse massif, Makalu).

Additionally, a quick google shows that pilots have to (a) account for glide paths and descent drift in the event of engine failure, and (b) account for descent paths should the cabin depressurize and folks suck through all the supplemental oxygen on board. The selected corridor looks like a low spot between the aforementioned 8000m peaks to the west, and the Kanchenjunga massif to the east. Here's a cool snipped from a pilot site talking about downward drift issues when dealing with the himalaya:


[user:parabellum] ...to allow for the possibility of an engine failure en route and a safe drift down to a sustainable altitude before landing. If a loaded A330 lost one over the Himalayas it's highest sustainable altitude on one engine may well be below the height of the terrain. There may also be oxygen considerations in the event of a pressurisation failure, the emergency descent can only take place when it is safe to do so, if the aircraft had to maintain a high level for sometime before it could descend to, say, 10,000 feet it is possible it could run out of oxygen for the pax.

[user: Rainboe] ...the drift down for a twin would be well below the minimum safety altitude, even drift down for a heavy 747 would be. Passenger oxygen is carried for minimum duration. The Himalayas are so vast, enormous quantities would be needed for a pressurisation failure over them just to get to a safe area. Even B747s don't go over them. We used to skirt around the northern edge with 'oxygen escape routes' where if you had a pressurisation failure, there was a known rapid exit to a safe terrain area- 400 people hyperventilating get through a lot of oxygen! The Himalayas curve into the northern Pakistan mountains and become the Tien Shan mountains further north into Tadjikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Seeing them from a distance is scary enough! We used to fly around the northern edge to Urumchi in north western China. [from: goo.gl/v1auwH ]

Erik, thanks for your input and for posting your photo.

The photo you posted bears some similarities to the one I posted. I am guessing the photos should be similar as you would have been viewing the south side of Everest on your flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu. As such I am still not 100% sure either way.

Nathanael, may I ask you how confident you are that this is not Everest?