Pilot shares ‘spectacular’ rare view of Northern Lights and sunset from cockpit

A pilot has shared spectacular photos of the Northern Lights from his cockpit window.

Pilot Dave Wallsworth, an A350-1000 captain, was flying British Airways flight BA275 from London Heathrow to Las Vegas on 7 November when he spotted the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) at sunset.

He shared the four photos on Twitter, alongside the caption: “On our flight from @HeathrowAirport to @LASairport we had the fairly rare sighting of Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) while the sunset was still visible. It looked lovely, as you can see here.”

The photos show a streak of luminous green in a deep sky, suspended above a fiery red horizon where the sun was setting.

Mr Wallsworth’s followers were impressed by his shots, with one commenting that “the colouring is so impressive”, while another called them “absolutely spectacular”.

It follows spectacular images shared by a US pilot who witnessed the rare St Elmo’s Fire weather phenomenon from his cockpit.

US Pilot Luis Andress was flying from Miami to Denver in September this year when he saw it from the cockpit.

He shared a photo of the electrostatic discharge flashing across his front windscreen, saying: “I live in Florida, and was doing the MIA-DEN on the same day the Hurricane Ian was passing by. It was a spectacle to see the phenomenon of St Elmo’s Fire. It was such a show.

“I was impressed because it was my first time that I see them with that intensity.”

St Elmo’s Fire is a rare weather phenomenon, creating an electric field. Occasionally it can be seen from planes, appearing on camera as forks of what look like lightning.

The phenomenon, named after St. Erasmus of Formia, the patron saint of sailors, is also known as ‘St Elmo’, and can act as a warning of an incoming lightning strike.

Andress witnessed the event during Hurricane Ian, which caused over $50bn-worth of damage and devastation to parts of Florida and South Carolina, making it the costliest storm in Florida since 1992.