In this video we get rare access to the A350 flight deck, joining the pilots as they operate Finnair’s long polar route from Tokyo (HND) to Helsinki (HEL). At 12.5 hours this is quite a bit longer than it used to be, but that’s what it takes to avoid Russian airspace and get home. On the return leg from Tokyo the route right over the North Pole is often the quickest because of winds, and on this flight we fly out over the Pacific, through Alaskan airspace, then straight up to within about 30 miles of the North Pole before heading down to Helsinki via Svalbard and northern Norway. Along the way we encounter some nasty weather over the Pacific, enjoy a brief moment of dawn before the sun sets onces again, see the northern lights (aurora borealis) over the Arctic, try to capture a video of the North Pole in darkness, and see another fantastic and mysterious astronomical phenomenon too. This was a fantastic and fascinating flight. We hope you enjoy.

Catch the Finnair flight TO Tokyo taking the southern route (one of our most popular videos to date):    • Flying the long way to Tokyo on the F...  

AY62 flight playback – Nov 13, 2022: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/fl...

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JetPhotos.com Finnair DC10 photo © Joan Martorell: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10335242
JetPhotos.com SAS DC7 photo © Jon Proctor: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6987374
JetPhotos.com Air France 707 © Peter Cook: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/10291854
JetPhotos.com Air France 707 © George W. Hamlin: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6159479
JetPhotos.com JAL 727 © Jon Proctor: https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/6839064

Other archival photos courtesy Finnair.

SECTIONS:
00:00 Departure from Tokyo
01:37 Avoiding Russian military exercises
01:57 Dodging weather over the Pacific
03:37 A350 flight level advantage
04:09 Harnesses on
04:45 Location of thunderstorms
05:27 Captain explains our route
06:27 Seatbelt signs off
06:42 The CPDLC explained
08:18 Short history of polar routes
08:53 A350 polar advantages
09:28 ETOPS300
09:44 Finding the North Star
10:08 The old DC10 flights
10:45 "A special flight"
11:05 Relief pilots take over
11:44 Dinner and a brief rest
12:45 A very brief dawn over Alaska
13:55 Back in the flight deck
14:08 NOPOL
14:33 How far are we from Thule?
15:45 Northern lights
16:33 HF radio
18:03 The compass at the Pole
18:51 The North Pole
20:18 Overflying Svalbard
20:28 Northern Norway in sight
20:39 Incredible celestial activity
21:15 Closing thoughts & approach to HEL
22:39 On the ground

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