Pilot performs mid-air U-turn so passengers can see Northern Lights

Pilots have been praised for their thoughtful act after passengers were treated to a once in a lifetime experience during a recent flight.

Pilots performed a loop so passengers could enjoy the Northern Lights.

Passengers on an easyJet flight were treated to a dazzling light show after their quick-thinking pilots made a mid-air U-turn when they chanced upon the aurora borealis.

Flightradar24, an internet service that shows real-time aircraft flight tracking information, posted an interesting map of an easyJet flight path on Tuesday.

It showed a flight from Iceland to the UK performing a 360-degree loop over the North Sea, about halfway through the two hour 40 minute journey.

The loop as seen on the flight path. Picture: Flightradar24

Passengers were treated to an amazing view. Picture: Adam Groves

And it soon transpired that the reason for the peculiar turn was so that every passenger on the Reykjavik to Manchester flight could see the spectacular polar phenomenon.

“The reason was probably to allow passengers on both sides of the aircraft to see the fantastic aurora borealis,” Flightradar24 tweeted.

Some passengers who were lucky enough to be on the flight took to social media to share their pictures of the stunning event, which is also known as the Northern Lights.

Adam Groves from the UK thanked the pilots for making the short detour.

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

“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,” he said.

Mr Groves said the pilots completely dimmed the cabin lights to improve the passengers’ view.

Another traveller said they were ironically returning from an unsuccessful Icelandic Northern Lights trip.

“Thankfully easyJet made up for it – stunning,” Iain Goodwin tweeted.

And numerous passengers from other flights reported seeing the phenomenon around the same time.

Passengers on other flights also reported seeing the Northern Lights. Picture: Kyle Knox

Their pilots made similar loops so everyone got a bird’s eye view. Picture: Richard K

One passenger on a London to Glasgow flight shared photos of the epic display.

And another easyJet passenger on a flight from Iceland to Scotland on Monday said their plane also performed a 360-degree loop to capture the lights.

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
https://t.co/IVJ81cqRKMpic.twitter.com/5cY8Hr2tPZ

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 27, 2023

“We were lucky enough to be on the easyJet flight to Edinburgh from Keflavik [Iceland] yesterday. The pilot of easyJet EZY35BM did a nice 360 for us,” Kyle Knox said.

The aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and the aurora australis in the southern hemisphere appear when the solar wind (electrically charged ions from the sun) meets the Earth’s magnetic field.

On Sunday, the planetary Kp index, an indicator of the worldwide level of geomagnetic activity, reached seven, which is indicative of a “severe geomagnetic storm”.