Plane Headed To Everest Crashes, Kills 19

What would you be afraid of if you were heading to the Everest region? Avalanches? Freak storms and frost bite? HAPE and HACE? All valid—but there's another life-threatening danger on that list: your flight.

A plane filled with tourists and trekkers headed to a staging point of Mount Everest crashed a few minutes after takeoff on Friday when it struck an eagle, according to Nepali authorities. All 19 people on board—seven from the UK, four from Nepal, five from China and three crew members—were killed. The plane went down just 500 meters from the Kathmandu International Airport.

But this wasn't an isolated incident. Since October 2008, including this crash, Nepal has had at least six small plane crashes—and one wherein the plane hit a mountain—killing a total of around 120 people, according to authorities.

Maybe it's time to start trekking to your trek.