In a magical time called the 20th century, there were supersonic passenger jets that could fly rich people from New York to London in less than three hours. These days, numerous startups are promising to replicate that feat, but it turns out that if you want to fly faster than the speed of sound you just need to book your flight on a particularly windy day.
This weekend, three regular passenger jets flying from the U.S. to Europe got caught up in a particularly fast blowing jet stream, which pushed them up above the speeds they usually fly at, reports Futurism. In fact, the jet stream was so strong on Saturday that three planes were all clocked flying at more than 800 mph, well above the 767 mph measurement that marks the speed of sound.
The three flights that surpassed the speed of sound included a Virgin Atlantic jet traveling from Washington to London, which hit 802 mph, and a Newark to Lisbon flight, which hit 835 mph. Both of these flights were operated by Boeing 787 aircraft, which usually fly at around 600 mph.
Despite their impressive speeds, a few small technicalities mean that the three flights didn’t actually break the sound barrier, despite traveling much faster than the speed of sound. As Futurism explains:
Because the Virgin Atlantic flight and two others like it, including one from Newark Airport in New Jersey to Lisbon, Portugal that reached a ground speed of 835 mph, were within the jet stream’s flow, they didn’t break the sound barrier, WaPo points out.
Important to note: though they were traveling over the speed of sound relative to the ground, the planes didn’t actually break the sound barrier, since they weren’t moving 767 mph faster than the air around them.
But just how fast was the jet stream blowing to push these planes up past the 800 mph mark? Well according to the National Weather Service, wind speeds peaked at around 265 mph – the second highest wind speed recorded by the Baltimore station that shared the readings.
While the passengers onboard might not have had the thrill of breaking the sound barrier, they did at least get to enjoy a pretty quick flight. In fact, Futurism reports that the flight from Washington to London arrived 45 minutes early thanks to its push from the jet stream.
So, remind me to check the long range weather forecast the next time I’m booking a long flight.