Pilot Spells Out 'I'm Bored' Across the Sky During Test Flight
The recently qualified pilot had been instructed to fly the aircraft at the same speed over a two-hour period, and presumably got bored over the course of his admittedly monotonous assignment.
(Image: FlightAware)
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Everyone has a slow day at work every once in a while, leading to random interwebs browsing, irrelevant tweeting, checking out app notifications or just plain ol' gazing out of the window (only if your corporate citadel has such openings to distraction, of course). But, every once in a while, an employee can take expressing their boredom to new heights, which is what an Australian pilot recently did; and we mean literally, given that he spelled out "I'm bored" on his tracking device.
According to media reports, the pilot, who was working out of Parafield Airport, north of Adelaide, was breaking in a new engine, a procedure which, according to Wikipedia (we know nothing about vehicles, whether of the sky or the ground) "involves conditioning a new piece of equipment by giving it an initial period of running". The recently qualified pilot had been instructed to fly the aircraft at the same speed over a two-hour period, and presumably got bored over the course of his admittedly monotonous assignment.
FlightAware, which is a global aviation software and data services company that also happens to provide the most up-to-date flight tracking information, as we can personally attest, tracked the pilot's path and managed to grab an image of the pilot's efforts.
According to ABC Australia, the pilot flew several laps, creating some slightly risque graffiti in the middle, before spelling out "I'm bored" over the Australian city and its surrounding environs. While his efforts couldn't be seen by anyone on the ground, his words were writ large across aircraft tracking softwares and devices.
ABC Australia quoted Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson, who said that pilots drawing pictures was "uncommon but not unheard of".
"All pilots plan a track for their aircraft to get between where they're going from and to — now what that track looks like once it shows up on radar of course is another thing entirely. As long as the pilot flies the aircraft safely and complies with all the aviation safety rules we are not too concerned about what that track looks like," he added.
Earlier this week a bored pilot in Australia left this message in the skyhttps://t.co/sE1l5RnXZa pic.twitter.com/9hOwFX6Mb3
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 21, 2019
According to media reports, the pilot, who was working out of Parafield Airport, north of Adelaide, was breaking in a new engine, a procedure which, according to Wikipedia (we know nothing about vehicles, whether of the sky or the ground) "involves conditioning a new piece of equipment by giving it an initial period of running". The recently qualified pilot had been instructed to fly the aircraft at the same speed over a two-hour period, and presumably got bored over the course of his admittedly monotonous assignment.
FlightAware, which is a global aviation software and data services company that also happens to provide the most up-to-date flight tracking information, as we can personally attest, tracked the pilot's path and managed to grab an image of the pilot's efforts.
According to ABC Australia, the pilot flew several laps, creating some slightly risque graffiti in the middle, before spelling out "I'm bored" over the Australian city and its surrounding environs. While his efforts couldn't be seen by anyone on the ground, his words were writ large across aircraft tracking softwares and devices.
ABC Australia quoted Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson, who said that pilots drawing pictures was "uncommon but not unheard of".
"All pilots plan a track for their aircraft to get between where they're going from and to — now what that track looks like once it shows up on radar of course is another thing entirely. As long as the pilot flies the aircraft safely and complies with all the aviation safety rules we are not too concerned about what that track looks like," he added.