Auroras from plane: Two pilots make unscheduled 360-degree turns to catch rare spectacle

Two pilots did the unthinkable for fliers when they made a 360-degree turn to let the passengers catch a stunning glimpse of the auroras, or northern lights. In a rare display, the skies above UK lit up with the northern lights this time round. An EasyJet pilot, whose plane was travelling from Iceland to Manchester, saw the aurora borealis and looped the plane around to let everyone on board catch a glimpse of the magnificent spectacle in the sky.

A Finnair flight from Kuusamo to Helsinki also made a similar small loop just so that the passengers could watch the aurora borealis. Flight tracking sites show both planes made the mid-flight loops. The pilot even dimmed the lights of the cabin for a better view.

“Many thanks to the Captain of Finnair flight AY488 from KAO to HEL tonight for making an unscheduled 360 up in the air so all passengers can enjoy the magic,” Kirsi Komi tweeted Sunday.

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Auroras are hard to hunt for, even in Iceland and Finland where they normally occur, as there is no guarantee that you will be able to see them despite spending on travel tickets and hotels. But the passengers of these flights got lucky as the aurora presented itself to them while on a plane.

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, the Aurora Borealis,” EasyJet said in a statement.

An EasyJet passenger Adam Groves, of Lymm, Cheshire, told BBC that he had spend four nights in Iceland, but failed to hunt the aurora.

But his trip, during which he also got engaged, could not have ended in a better manner. The "incredible" sight "topped off" his four-night trip, he said.

Adam Groves thanked the EasyJet pilot in a tweet “who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights.” The airline, in turn, said it was "delighted" to have played host to the watching.

Also Read |NASA astronaut's stunning image of auroras from space is nothing like anything you have ever seen

Where to see aurora borealis?

While quaint little towns in Norway, Finland and Sweden are mostly where people can see the best view of the aurora borealis from, the northers lights this time dazzled people in the UK as well.

People in the UK shared pictures of the aurora from Scotland, northern Wales, Ireland and southern England. The sighting was even reported from the iconic Stonehenge monument.

(With inputs from agencies)

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