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# magic
Planes yesterday flew at near-supersonic speeds due to a helpful jet stream
Flights that would normally take more than six hours arrived in less than five hours and 20 minutes.
THIS SPEEDY JET stream across the North Atlantic propelled planes from New York to London yesterday.
The 200 miles per hour jet stream was first noticed by Mashable, which reported a number of flights from New York’s John F Kennedy airport reaching London’s Heathrow airport in about five hours and 20 minutes. This journey normally takes more than six hours.
At one stage, this aircraft was travelling at a groundspeed of 745 miles per hour:
A British Airways flight that departed 40 minutes late from New York still arrived in London 16 minutes earlier than scheduled. It was like magic.
Jet streams are thin bands of fast-flowing air high up in the atmosphere. They move around weather systems and can either help or impede air travel.
