International Flight Tops 800 Miles Per Hour With Help of Jet Stream

by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:45 AM ET, Wed February 20, 2019

Thanks to the help of the powerful jet stream, a Virgin Atlantic flight reportedly broke a world record by reaching an astounding ground speed of 801 miles per hour Monday.

According to The Washington Post, the Virgin Atlantic flight was traveling from Los Angeles International Airport to Heathrow Airport in London Monday night when it reached a speed of over 800 miles per hour at 35,000 feet above central Pennsylvania.

The Boeing 787 topped the speed of sound at 767 miles per hour, but its travel was measured in ground speed, not airspeed. Officials said commercial aircraft are not designed to fly at supersonic speeds.

758 MPH: The jet stream is so strong over the US right now... that @VirginAtlantic Flight 8 from LAX to London is whipping above Kansas at a ground speed of 758 miles an hour. That's almost the speed of sound... #CAwx@KPIXtvpic.twitter.com/xni0IuKO5Z

- Paul Deanno (@PaulKPIX) February 19, 2019

Almost 800 mph now never ever seen this kind of tailwind in my life as a commercial pilot !! (200 mph tailwind ) pic.twitter.com/0XGTkEP9EB

- Peter James (@jetpeter1) February 19, 2019

With the boost from a record-setting jet stream wind current, according to Weather.com, the Virgin Atlantic flight arrived in London 48 minutes early.

Other planes reached record speeds in the jet stream recently, with a flight from LAX to New York City hitting 678 miles per hour over Ohio Monday, and a Boeing 737 en route to New York from Chicago passed 700 miles per hour Tuesday morning.

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