It's hard to fathom just how much commercial airplanes have changed travel in the century since their invention. Prior to their rise, people's options for far-away travel were much more limited than now. They had to rely on ocean liners to cross the Atlantic or Pacific, or railroads for long-distance domestic travel, which sometimes took days or even weeks. This made long-distance travel impractical for those who could not afford to take significant time off work or school, and a cruise across the Atlantic wasn't exactly cheap, either.
Enter the commercial airplane, which revolutionized the tourism industry within just a few decades. While at first aircraft travel was largely reserved for the wealthy, after the end of WWII it started to become more accessible to more people. With the rise of jet engine-powered aircraft in the 1960s-1970s, even average Joes could now afford to fly, and planes could cover in a few hours what used to take weeks. The commercial airline industry started booming, and today some even take up flying as a hobby in their personal aircraft and helicopters or fly vicariously through drones.
However, not every place is open to air travel, commercial or otherwise, and some areas are heavily restricted or are largely avoided by most aircraft. Reasons vary, from environmental, to security, to urban legend, and not always in places you might expect. From Machu Picchu to the Bermuda Triangle, here's why planes don't fly over these places.
