The diversion lasted less than ten minutes, and passengers on board got to see the breathtaking Aurora Borealis.
Whether we like it or not, we all want to see the Northern Lights at least once in our lives. A natural light show that takes place in the polar regions is called the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. Charged particles from the sun interact with the magnetic field and atmosphere of the Earth to produce it. The end result is a stunning display of dancing lights in the sky, frequently in pink, purple, and green hues. Winter is the best season to see the Northern Lights, and popular places to see them include Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Canada. Most people add seeing the Northern Lights to their travel bucket lists because it is such an incredible experience. According to Daily Mail, an EasyJet plane made a 360-degree turn during a flight from Reykjavik to Manchester so that passengers could see this breathtaking display of the Northern Lights.
An easyJet flight from Iceland to England made a quick detour so passengers on both sides of the plane could see the northern lights. https://t.co/J5jEkhEzV5
— ABC News (@ABC) March 1, 2023
The Airbus A320 was travelling at 37,000 feet (11,000 meters) and a speed of almost 500 miles per hour when the pilot made the controlled detour west of the Faroe Islands. The manoeuvre lasted about 10 minutes and occurred at about 8.30 p.m. During the detour, travellers can take pictures of the breathtaking celestial event. The website for flight tracking kept track of every detail. A lucky couple who were unable to see the Northern Lights from the ground were able to take an incredible photo of the show through their airplane window after getting engaged in Iceland.
An @easyJet flight just made a 360 turn over the North Sea. The Northern Lights are very strong tonight as well, so the reason was probably to allow passengers on both sides of the aircraft to see the fantastic #AuroraBorealis
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 27, 2023
https://t.co/IVJ81cqRKM pic.twitter.com/5cY8Hr2tPZ
Adam Groves, a 27-year-old recruitment agency owner from Lymm, Cheshire, made travel arrangements for Reykjavik. Due to cloud cover, the couple was unable to see the aurora during their trip. Nonetheless, Adam said that seeing the phenomenon on their flight home on Monday evening was a singular experience after he had successfully proposed to his girlfriend Jasmine on a cliff on the Icelandic coast.
Adam uttered,”It was special – I went (to Iceland) with the intention of proposing to my girlfriend under the northern lights, so seeing it on our flight home was a great surprise. We were out there for four nights in Iceland, but we didn’t get a chance to see the northern lights due to clouds.” He added, “On our flight home, the pilot told us that if we are able to see the lights he’ll do a turn to allow us to see it.”
“Around half an hour into our flight, the pilot dimmed the lights and we saw the (northern) lights. At first, only the passengers on the left-hand side of the plane could see them, but we were sat on the opposite side,” he said. “The pilot turned the plane around so that passengers sitting on the right could see them too.”
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
So that those seated to their right could see them as well, the pilot turned the plane around. “We are pleased that the captain on our flight from Reykjavik to Manchester yesterday 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,” a spokesperson for easyJet said.
“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,” they continued. Pictures of the Northern Lights captured by easyJet passengers and shared widely on social media show varying shades of pink and green lighting up the night sky.