zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Beyond Cars
/
With Help From A Storm, A British Airways 747 Just Broke The Subsonic Trans-Atlantic Record
With Help From A Storm, A British Airways 747 Just Broke The Subsonic Trans-Atlantic Record-December 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:14:01

Image for article titled With Help From A Storm, A British Airways 747 Just Broke The Subsonic Trans-Atlantic Record

As Storm Ciara causes across Britain, at least some are finding the weather rather agreeable as the winds from the storm helped British Airways flight BA112 cross the Atlantic in a record time of four hours and 56 minutes.

According to plane-tracking website , the Boeing 747-436 departed John F. Kennedy International Airport at 6:21 PM New York time last night and arrived more than 80 minutes ahead of schedule in Heathrow at 4:47 AM GMT.

Helping the 747 make its way from New York to London in record time was a jetstream moving at speeds in excess of 260 mph. These unusually fast winds are attributed to the same storm system currently battering the British Isles.

Flight BA112 bests the previous record between JFK and Gatwick, London’s other major airport, of five hours and thirteen minutes set by a Norwegian 787-9 under similar strong tailwind conditions. That plane managed a top speed of 776 mph, shy of the 801 mph that the British Airways 747 hit last night.

According to , though the top speed reached by the plane on its journey across the Atlantic was greater than the speed of sound, it wouldn’t have broken the sound barrier as the differential between the speed of the plane and the air moving around it was to low.

While this flight certainly was speedy, it should be noted that the four hours and 56 minute flight time is well short of the outright commercial airliner record set by the Concorde back in 1996. Hitting 1,350 mph, that plane managed to make the crossing in two hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds.

Though the speed of this particular flight is largely attributable to the wind conditions, the chances that more trans-Atlantic flights will be able to manage similarly impressive speeds are growling slimmer. Airlines around the world (including British Airways) are as fuel efficiency considerations are leading a transition to more miserly two-engine designs like the 787 and Airbus A350. Still, the previous record-holder before flight BA 112 was a two-engined 787 so perhaps there still is hope for an even shorter sub-sonic hop from North America to Europe to come.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Beyond Cars
How We Can Turn The Tides On Ineffective Idling Legislation
How We Can Turn The Tides On Ineffective Idling Legislation
There doesn’t seem to be any simple way to combat car idling. Legislation hasn’t worked. Educational or press campaigns haven’t worked. Even automakers adding the automatic start/stop hasn’t worked, since most of those systems feature a manual override and many folks dislike the feel of a car turning off...
Dec 31, 2025
These Are All The COVID-19 Tests I Needed To Take On A 3 Week International Trip
These Are All The COVID-19 Tests I Needed To Take On A 3 Week International Trip
To say that taking a ridiculously long series of COVID-19 tests was shaping up to be the least anticipated part of my trip to England and Greenland would be something of an understatement. I can’t say that there’s anything I enjoy about having a long swab stuffed up my...
Dec 31, 2025
This Day In History: Seattle's Floating Bridge Re-Opens After Sinking
This Day In History: Seattle's Floating Bridge Re-Opens After Sinking
On September 12, 1993, the rebuilt Lacey V. Murrow Bridge was reopened over Lake Washington in Seattle. The bridge was renowned as being a floating bridge, meaning that it was constructed in such a way as to allow it to float on top of the water rather than requiring...
Dec 31, 2025
Your Motorcycle Is Trying To Kill Your Phone, Here's What You Can Do
Your Motorcycle Is Trying To Kill Your Phone, Here's What You Can Do
Have you ever finished thinking that your bars transmitted a bit too much vibration to your hands? Apple says those very same vibrations can kill your phone’s cameras. Here’s what you can do about it. On Friday, Apple published with a worrying messag, our sister site Gizmodo. Exposing your...
Dec 31, 2025
Tech Icon Steve Wozniak May Be Starting A New SpaceX Rival
Tech Icon Steve Wozniak May Be Starting A New SpaceX Rival
Okay, I don’t really know that this new company, , will end up becoming a direct rival to , but I do know that it will be doing things in space, and that if I reference SpaceX in the hed, people are more likely to click. Look, I’m just...
Dec 31, 2025
Moto Guzzi Is Celebrating 100 Years With An Incredible New Bike
Moto Guzzi Is Celebrating 100 Years With An Incredible New Bike
What’s good for the Goose is good for the sport bike rider, because this new V100 Mandello from Moto Guzzi looks totally rad. With a new watercooled engine featuring a fresh cylinder head design, presumably around 1,000 ccs, the Mandello is a celebration of everything that Moto Guzzi has...
Dec 31, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved