Pilot sparks fury after flying huge plane just 328ft above town – ‘very serious matter’

Panic echoed across an Icelandic town when the pilot of a Boeing 757 flew at an “alarmingly low” altitude to celebrate his retirement. The pilot had been carrying out his final commercial flight after 40 years in service over Vestmannaeyjar, a volcanic archipelago off southern Iceland, on Saturday (April 11).

While flying the service from Frankfurt to Iceland, the pilot then decided to descend to just over 328 feet (100m) over the community before landing at Keflavik International Airport. Icelandair has since reported the veteran pilot to the police after he made an unauthorised low-altitude flyover, believed to have been carried out as a personal farewell to his childhood home. Chief Flight Officer Linda Gunnarsdóttir said she believes the passengers on board the flight were told about the sightseeing pass during the flight. However, Icelandair has yet to confirm this.

Footage taken by residents of Vestmannaeyjar showed the over 150-foot, 225-passenger jet appearing to cruise at hill level and flying at a terrifyingly low height over house roofs and treetops. Locals in the area later told reporters that they experienced noticeable noise and vibration as the aircraft passed overhead, according to the Daily Mail. Many feared the plane was about to crash when they saw it fly so low over the town.

Ms Gunnarsdóttir told local media that the pilot had carried out the manoeuvre without the airline’s knowledge or permission.

“In aviation, everything is very rigid in work processes, checklists, and other things… What we do in normal passenger flights — it doesn’t fall within that framework,” she said, adding: “This is not standard practice; this is a very serious matter that we will review internally,” she added.

While noting that such actions are not customary when Icelandair pilots fly their final flights, Ms Gunnarsdóttir said they have occurred in the past.

“This has happened from time to time, but it is by no means standard practice and not something we would have authorised,” she confirmed to local outlet Iceland Monitor.

Icelandair went on to express regret over the incident: “We apologise to the residents of Vestmannaeyjar if they have been disturbed,’ Ms Gunnarsdóttir told the local outlet Visir.

Icelandair has not clarified whether additional disciplinary actions will be taken internally, but the police investigation remains ongoing.