Pilot circles plane to show passengers northern lights

[yorkie]

Pilot circles plane to show passengers northern lights

The captain dimmed the lights and made a 360-degree turn so passengers could see the display.

www.bbc.co.uk

"We took off and halfway into the flight the pilot turned all the lights off and the view could be seen out the left window.
"But we were sitting on the right-hand side and after a few minutes the pilot switched back and did a 360 loop around for everyone to see."

An EasyJet spokeswoman said: "We are pleased that the captain was able to perform a controlled manoeuvre in order to allow passengers to witness an amazing display from the air of one of nature's greatest sights.

Good on the pilot for doing that.

I can't imagine Ryanair doing that; I've never had a dimmed cabin (except for take-orf or landing) with Ryanair as they are too busy trying to sell you stuff you don't want

 

[Howardh]

Yeah, I read that, brilliant! Pilot probably needed permission from his airline first, and air traffic control of course.

Years ago a similar thing happened on my flight when Manchester was visible from the south coast so the pilot manoeuvred the plane so everyone could see the stunning view.

Wasn't quite a dramatic shift in direction as the northern lights though!

 

[Ediswan]

Good on the pilot for doing that.

Passengers get the view. Pilot gets a tale to tell. EasyJet get some good PR. Everybody wins.

 

[edwin_m]

Yes, a story like that really does the rounds...

 

[PsychoMouse]

Happens fairly often when the aurora is strong

 

[Cloud Strife]

Yeah, I read that, brilliant! Pilot probably needed permission from his airline first, and air traffic control of course.

It's possible that it was even included in the flight plan, as Easyjet are well known for good PR moves.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Well done to the pilot. I have seen them loads of time from an aircraft.

 

[TheSeeker]

Reminds me of this :-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus_Airlines_Flight_706

"About seventy minutes into the flight, the crew made a request to the Lorient approach controller to deviate from their route slightly to the west to Quiberon Bay.[1] The reason for this detour was to give the passengers and crew a view of the SS Norway (previously named SS France), at that time the longest ocean liner ever built in France." "switching to visual flight rules; they then put the 1900D into a descent from 2,500 feet (760 m) to 2,000 feet (610 m) while making a 360° turn around the ship".

Luckily no Cessna's in the area this time.

 

[Chrisbolton]

Annoyingly I flew back from Iceland that day having not seen a glimse of the Northern Lights all weekend, yet they were visible from my house!

 

[randyrippley]

I had a similar experience on a BA flight to Boston around 30 years ago. In fact it was quite a scenic trip as first the pilot diverted to show us an erupting Icelandic volcano

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Passengers get the view. Pilot gets a tale to tell. EasyJet get some good PR. Everybody wins.

A contrast to my experience decades ago.
Was on Air New Zealand from Los Angeles to Gatwick, and was woken as it got light to be told I had missed a spectacular aurora display over the Atlantic.
All the more galling as normally I like to look out at the night sky now and again (whatever the crew say about keeping blinds closed).
On long haul overnight flights to Aus/NZ/SA, it's fascinating to watch how the night sky orientation changes with latitude.
That first view of Canopus and other bright southern stars is part of the magic of travel.

Anyway, the good news is that I was in Lapland last month and caught my first auroral display from our cabin, and captured some decent photos.

 

[gabrielhj07]

A contrast to my experience decades ago.
Was on Air New Zealand from Los Angeles to Gatwick, and was woken as it got light to be told I had missed a spectacular aurora display over the Atlantic.
All the more galling as normally I like to look out at the night sky now and again (whatever the crew say about keeping blinds closed).
On long haul overnight flights to Aus/NZ/SA, it's fascinating to watch how the night sky orientation changes with latitude.
That first view of Canopus and other bright southern stars is part of the magic of travel.

Anyway, the good news is that I was in Lapland last month and caught my first auroral display from our cabin, and captured some decent photos.

Very nice indeed, and great view of the stars

 

[AlterEgo]

A contrast to my experience decades ago.
Was on Air New Zealand from Los Angeles to Gatwick, and was woken as it got light to be told I had missed a spectacular aurora display over the Atlantic.
All the more galling as normally I like to look out at the night sky now and again (whatever the crew say about keeping blinds closed).
On long haul overnight flights to Aus/NZ/SA, it's fascinating to watch how the night sky orientation changes with latitude.
That first view of Canopus and other bright southern stars is part of the magic of travel.

Anyway, the good news is that I was in Lapland last month and caught my first auroral display from our cabin, and captured some decent photos.

Great picture! I don’t suppose you were at Kakslauttanen were you?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Very nice indeed, and great view of the stars

Great picture! I don’t suppose you were at Kakslauttanen were you?

Thanks both.

No, it was at Yllas (local airport was Kittila).
Just one clear night in the week - very lucky.
I took several 20 second RAW exposures to avoid trailing the stars , and then afterwards increased the exposure by about 1.5 stops with Photoshop to bring out the detail.
Realised the frame included Deneb (Cygnus), and in some pics Vega was between the trees to the right.
Magic.