The Icelandic flag carrier Icelandair has reportedly filed a police report on one of its own pilots after the Captain flew a Boeing 757 on a scheduled flight from Frankfurt to Reykjavik at low altitude over a built-up area on approach for landing.
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon as Icelandair flight FI-521 from Frankfurt was making its final approach to landing in Reykjavik. The Captain of his flight was piloting his very last commercial flight before retirement.
ICELANDAIR REPORTS OWN PILOT TO POLICE OVER LOW FLYOVER INCIDENT.
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Icelandair has taken a serious stance after one of its pilots allegedly flew a Boeing 757 (TF-ISR) below permitted altitude, nearly 100 m/328 ft over Vestmannaeyjar, during his final flight before retirement.
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News started to spread of the incident after residents on the Icelandic island of Vestmannaeyjar reported their houses shaking because the plane was flying so low above the island.
The Captain is believed to come from Vestmannaeyjar and performed the low-altitude flyover as a nod to his roots, but the maneuver was performed without the knowledge or consent of the airline.
According to the flight tracking website Flight Radar 24, the exact altitude that the Boeing 757 was flying at the time of the flypass remains a mystery because of nearby cliffs that blocked accurate transmission data.
Icelandair’s chief flight officer, Linda Gunnarsdóttir, told local media that the fly-pass “was not done with any permission from us and it was done completely without our knowledge.”
Amidst some reports that Icelandair has referred the matter to the police, Gunnarsdóttir added: “This is something we will look into seriously, and we are taking it seriously.”
Given the fact that accurate altitude data isn’t immediately available, it remains unclear whether the aircraft was within Icelandair’s limits.
In any case, the airline says that low-level flypasses are not permitted, especially over built-up residential areas, or with passengers on board who didn’t sign up to be part of a pilot’s retirement antics.
In March 2024, a retiring Captain for German flag carrier Lufthansa caused some controversy on his very last flight as he ‘waved’ goodbye with a so-called wing tip manoeuvre during departure from Los Angeles International Airport.
As the Boeing 747 jumbojet took off and while it was still in its initial ascent, the aircraft ‘tipped’ to the right as if the aircraft was waving and then returned to a steady climb into the grey skies surrounding Los Angeles Airport.
Many airlines expressly prohibit retiring pilots from performing non-standard maneuvers as a way of celebrating their final flight, but wingtips seem to be a tradition at Lufthansa.
In many cases, flight attendants will announce what is going to happen prior to takeoff to reassure jittery passengers before the maneuver takes place.
