Storm Ciara helps BA jet fly from New York to London in under five hours, smashing record

A British Airways flight propelled by a 265mph tailwind flew from New York to London in under five hours, setting a subsonic passenger jet record.

The Boeing 747 landed at Heathrow at 4.43am on Sunday after a journey time of just four hours and 56 minutes and having reached a top speed of 825mph.

The flight was scheduled to land at 06.25am but arrived 102 minutes early.

The flight typically takes six-and-half hours while the average cruising speed of a passenger jet is 575mph.

Flights in the opposite direction were reportedly taking as much as two and a half hours longer as they battled against the prevailing winds of Storm Ciara as it blew towards the UK.

See also: Massive storm shuts down air traffic across Europe

 

Read more via The Telegraph