In a daring feat nearly 100 years ago, Glasgow RAF pilot Air Commodore Sir Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, known as Lord Clydesdale, became the first person to fly over the towering summit of Mount Everest, a remarkable achievement that would go down in aviation history.
On April 3, 1933, at just 30 years old, Lord Clydesdale and his observer, Stewart Blacker, took off from Lalbalu airstrip in Bihar, India, in their fragile Houston-Westland biplane. The aircraft, while a marvel of its time with its supercharged Pegasus engine and inbuilt electric heating, struggled against freezing temperatures and dangerous air currents during the mission. Despite the challenges, the pair pressed on, determined to make history.
Flying at 40,000 feet, Lord Clydesdale and Blacker navigated the Himalayan mountain range and soared above the summit of Mount Everest. However, their flight was far from smooth. The pair faced near disaster when a powerful downdraft almost sent them plummeting into the mountain below. According to Lord Clydesdale, they were in “a serious position” until a counter updraft caught their wings, allowing them to clear the summit by just 100 feet.
This historic flight made them the first humans to fly over the 29,029-foot peak—an area that had never been mapped or explored from the air before. However, despite the significance of the moment, the pilots were unable to capture it on film. A second plane, equipped with a fully automated camera, was meant to photograph the flight, but dust ruined the plan, leaving no visual record of the moment.
Undeterred by the close call, Lord Clydesdale was determined to try again. Air Commodore Peregrine Fellowes, the leader of the expedition, initially considered a second attempt too risky, but the Duke was resolute in his goal. On April 19, just 16 days later, the two planes returned to the skies above Everest. This time, they cleared the summit without difficulty and successfully captured the images that would later guide Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in their own historic ascent of Mount Everest in 1953.
Lord Clydesdale’s pioneering flight not only opened the skies above Everest to the world, but it also played a crucial role in future expeditions to the mountain. His achievement remains a testament to the courage and determination of those who dared to push the boundaries of exploration.
