Fast and Furious: British Airways Flight Breaks Speed of Sound as It Flies Over North Atlantic

As Storm Ciara has brought hurricane-force winds and rains to the United Kingdom, disrupting flights and trains, the cyclone that gave birth to the storm has helped a British Airways plane set a record.

The Sunday British Airways flight from New York to London ended up with setting a new record in terms of the amount of time it took to cross the Atlantic, as it took only 4 hours and 56 minutes, two hours less than expected, to reach Heathrow Airport from the Big Apple, according to Flightradar24.

Thanks to a strong, well-positioned jet stream, a @British_Airways 747 managed a new New York-London subsonic speed record today, making the journey in 4 hours 56 minutes—17 minutes faster than the previous record. https://t.co/HISXpN6Vns #BA112 pic.twitter.com/A2R42rsx14

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 9, 2020

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The achievement became possible as the aircraft, flying over the North Atlantic, was pushed by a jet stream created by a bomb cyclone, thus reaching the speed of more than 1,327 kilometres per hour (825 mph), which is faster than the speed of sound that is 1,234.4 kph (767 mph).

According to reports, the record-setting British Airways flight was just one minute faster than a Virgin Airbus A350 flight that landed at Heathrow moments later. It should be noted that flights often seek out jet streams to enjoy favourable conditions and boost the travel time.