Finnair, EasyJet Pilots Make 360 Turn To Let Passengers Enjoy Northern Lights

The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights is an incredible natural phenomenon that occurs in the atmosphere over the North Pole, mostly around Scandanavian Nations, hence called Northern Lights. Under the phenomenon, once can green coloured lights floating in the sky, making it one of the most magnificent event, mostly occurring in cold weather. While one can spot Northern Lights from countries like Finland, Iceland among others, increasing light pollution reduces the chance of spotting these magical lights from cities. One has to travel to remote areas with negligible interference from lights to see the Aurora Borealis.

One way to spot the Northern Lights uninterrupted is from a flight, 30000 ft over the earth's surface. While the view from a flight can be enchanting, normally the view is only visible to one side of the aircraft. However, a few pilots flying to the Scandanavian nations have given all their passengers a view of the Northern Lights, by taking unscheduled mid-flight 360 degree turns. 

The pilot of this Finnair flight made a 360 turn to allow everyone onboard see the fantastic Northern Lights last night.https://t.co/ewXUHBnioS https://t.co/BVbUaRk2F7 pic.twitter.com/Flj3gqqc4A — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 27, 2023

The Northern Lights have been particularly visible this week over large areas at the northern latitudes and reports of pilots taking u-turn has cheered the avgeeks in the world. Two such incidents came to light, one from Iceland and one from Finland.

In the first incident, Finnair pilot flying from Kuusamo to Helsinki, operating Flight AY 488, gave a mesmerizing view of the Northern Lights by taking a U-Turn. One passenger shared the pics on Twitter writing, "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".

In another incident, an EasyJet Flight 1806 from Reykjavik to Machester also made a 360 degree turn southwest of the Faroe Islands to let the passengers on the right side of the aircraft have a look at the aurora.