Pilot Performs Mid-Flight Maneuver To Ensure Passengers See The Northern Lights

Passengers on a recent flight out of Iceland were treated to quite the surprise when the captain of the aircraft did a “360 fly by” to show passengers the Northern Lights.

Typically traveling on an international flight is pretty standard business. Every so often, however, something incredible happens.

I remember one time I was flying to Rome, Italy and the pilot got special permission to circle around this gorgeous snowy mountaintop so all of the passengers could get a good view of it. It was really something special to see, and so unexpected on a commercial flight! They’re typically pretty stringent about sticking to the schedule and not going off-route, emergencies aside.

Sometimes, pilots go above and beyond though and the passengers are really in for something awesome. That happened on EasyJet flight EZY1806 and Adam Groves happened to be on the flight to witness it!

Groves (@APTGroves) tweeted to acknowledge the pilot who pulled off the stunt.

Along with pictures of the Northern Lights, he wrote: “Big thanks to the @easyJet pilot of EZY1806 from Reykjavik to Manchester who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights.”

Big thanks to the @easyJet pilot of EZY1806 from Reykjavik to Manchester who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights 🤩 pic.twitter.com/A4CHi9Hqgo

— Adam Groves (@APTGroves) February 27, 2023

According to Simplemost, EasyJet confirmed with them that the mid-flight maneuver was performed safely and coordinated with air traffic control.

They company stated: “We are pleased that the Captain on our flight from Reykjavik to Manchester on Monday evening 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. Our crew will always go above and beyond for our customers and we’re delighted to have been able to share this special view of the Northern Lights with them.”

The Northern Lights is something many people hope to see but few actually get to. It’s like a bucket-list item that we hope to catch but sometimes life doesn’t go as planned. It’s really neat that all of the passengers on the flight were able to witness such a spectacular event!