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ONE AMERICAN AIRLINE went the extra mile for passengers earlier this week when it changed its usual flight departure time to catch a rare solar eclipse.
The Alaska Airlines plane was carefully timed to leave Anchorage for Honolulu as the total eclipse – the only one in 2016 – crossed over the Pacific on Tuesday.
The change of course was proposed by US astronomer Joe Rao, who figured out that Flight 870 would intersect the “path of totality” – the darkest shadow of the moon as it passes over Earth.
And so the flight’s normal departure time was pushed back by 25 minutes, allowing the group of astronomers and space enthusiasts on board to watch the phenomenon.
Here’s what they saw from their seats, flying 530 miles an hour at 37,000 feet.
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One of them, as you can hear, was pretty excited.
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