Christiaan van Heijst, a Dutch pilot, regularly posts pictures of the scenery outside his cockpit. This time, Mr. Christiaan shared a breathtaking photo of an uncommon moment he saw through the window of a Boeing 747 while traveling over the North Atlantic on Instagram. He described seeing the aurora borealis as a “turquoise aerial fire” while a few hundred kilometers south of Iceland in the caption of his post. He said that in the distance, the city lights of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, shone in a striking orange glow on the horizon.
“A few hundred miles south of Iceland, somewhere over the North Atlantic ocean. A turquoise aerial fire in the form of aurora borealis while the city lights of Reykjavik illuminate the horizon in a contrasting, orange glow, far away,” Mr Christiaan wrote.
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The Dutch pilot included a humorous story about how he took the photo in the post’s caption. “Artificial lights on the horizon: a glimmer of civilization and a sense of connection to the outside world after many hours of solitude: no personal interaction from my Icelandic captain, who has been silent since the landing gear went up on the other side of the planet, and only the barest minimum of communication regarding procedures through my headset. A figure well-known for his unwavering attitude toward coworkers and purposeful shallowness of speech when in flight,” he clarified.
“Hours later, the lights of Reykjavik are abundantly visible and without need, heed or warning, he opens up the intercom and takes his time to start his declaration for a single-person audience: me. Staring out of his window, eyes set on the distant orange glow from his left-hand window, he solemnly proclaims a few seconds later: ‘… the centre of the universe …’, allowing some moments of quiet contemplation and thought on my side, before switching his intercom off again, as if to underline this statement and retreating back in his cone of silence,” Mr Christiaan continued.
“Stoic minimalism at its best and I can’t help but silently chuckle at this unexpected and utterly dry sense of humour,” he added.
Further, the pilot said after the pair touched down four hours later in a cargo airport in central Europe, neither shared a single word “besides his solemn proclamation of Iceland’s true worth”. “‘You’re a fun guy, looking forward to flying with you next time,’ he confided to me, before leaving me with a solid handshake and sincere smile before disappearing into the night to find his car.'” the pilot wrote.
Mr Christiaan shared the post earlier this week. Since then, it has amassed more than 2,500 likes and several reactions. “Wow! Incredible shot! Silence is golden indeed,” one person wrote. “Working a Polar flight tomorrow night. My camera is ready and I hope I see some,” wrote another.
“Love love your photos and entertaining, well written accounts that accompany them too,” expressed a third user.
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