The flight British Airways (BA) broke the record for the fastest subsonic flight between new York and London, reaching a top speed of over 800 mph (1287 km/h).
The Boeing 747 flew in the night from Saturday to Sunday and reached the destination 4 hours 56 minutes when the storm Kiara rushed to the UK.
«The flight took place in a stronger than usual jet stream, — said CNN senior meteorologist Brandon Miller. – Storm Kiara has caused devastating gusts of wind and massive waves in the UK, Ireland and other parts of Northern Europe this weekend.»
The jet stream is a fast-moving «river of air» in the atmosphere, the altitude at which commercial Airliners fly.
The plane landed at Heathrow airport at 4:43 a.m., almost two hours before the scheduled time. Its maximum speed during the flight amounted to 825 mph (1327 km/h), according to Flightradar24, an online tracking service flight.
Fastest across the Atlantic tonight from New York to London so far is #BA112 at 4hr56m. #VS4 in 4:57, and #VS46 in 4:59. https://t.co/gfYoHGV3Y6https://t.co/kMhjCqdEtt
If we’re not mistaken, BA now retakes the fastest subsonic NY-London crossing from Norwegian. pic.twitter.com/Sr1GPeAjuh
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 9, 2020
The average time of flight of the aircraft between London and new York is 6 hours 13 minutes.
«We always prioritize safety, not speed records, but our highly skilled pilots made maximum use of the conditions to quickly deliver passengers to London,» said the representatives of British Airways.
Last weekend Kiara with hurricane winds «landed» in the UK and have caused serious disruptions in the airport, which canceled dozens of flights.
