Lukla airport the gateway to Mount Everest needs braveness and precision, way to its tiny, treacherous runway perched on a steep cliff.For 1/2 a century pilots have needed to navigate snow-capped peaks and bear erratic weather to land on a runway just 500 metres long that has been carved right into a mountain ridge and sits via a perilous three-kilometre drop.A litany of deadly crashes, inclusive of one in October 2008 that killed all 18 on board besides the pilot, has earned Lukla the nickname of the “world’s most risky airport”. but while a large earthquake hit Nepal eight months ago, triggering Everest’s deadliest avalanche and leaving hundreds of climbers and trekkers stranded, the tiny airfield confronted its toughest test yet.Helicopter pilot Nischal KC says that even on a mean day steady “weather adjustments and the steep terrain on occasion make touchdown not possible”. -