A video of an exhilarating cockpit view of a plane speeding over clouds at night in Turkey has gone viral on Instagram.
The video was posted by pilot Bedrettin Sağdıç (@bedrettinsagdic on Instagram). The clip has had 3.4 million views since it was first shared three days ago.
The footage captures the approach and landing on the runway of Istanbul Airport, the 44-year-old pilot told Newsweek. Sağdıç worked in air traffic control for 16 years before he became a pilot in 2016.
The latest clip begins with a dramatic view over a bed of clouds under a dark night sky. The plane continues to speed ahead, with patches of bright city lights below peeking through the clouds.
The aircraft later veers sharply to the left a couple of times, with a few light flashes seen across the screen, before the plane races onto the runway at Istanbul Airport.
The latest viral post comes as the pilot profession was ranked among the “100 Best Jobs” in the 2023 edition of the annual ranking by U.S. News, coming in at 48 this year.
The job ranked fourth among the listing’s “Best Social Service Jobs” and 10th among the “Best Paying Jobs.” According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a pilot’s median salary in 2022 was reported to be $148,900.
While the pilot profession may be among the world’s most coveted, the latest clip was also shared amid an ongoing pilot shortage.
Air travel is seeing continued strong growth in the post-pandemic era, according to a July 2023 report from the International Air Transport Association.
The IATA said that in May 2023, globally traffic was now reported to be 96.1 percent of May 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels.
However, the industry is struggling to keep up with the demand for travel due to the shortage of pilots.
Earlier this year, Faye Malarkey Black, the president and CEO of the Regional Airline Association, warned a U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee about “the coming tsunami of pilot retirements.”
She said that “over the next 15 years, nearly 50 percent of the commercial airline workforce will be forced to retire because they will reach the age of 65.”
“This year, 2,225 pilots must retire. Required retirements will peak in 2029 at 3,750, when pilots aged 58 today turn 65. Thereafter, retirements remain high, staying above 2023’s rate for the foreseeable future,” Black noted.
‘Dancing With the Clouds’
A caption shared with the latest viral Instagram clip reads: “Dancing with the clouds and feeling the rhythm of the skies from the cockpit! Join me on this harmonious journey above the world.”
Instagram users were blown away by the latest video, which had over 216,000 likes at the time of writing.
User saimasohail281 wrote “wow this is amazing” in a comment that received 204 likes.
User shahab610909 wrote in German “Das ist sehr gut ich libe be piloten,” which roughly translates to “That’s very good, I want to be a pilot,” according to Google Translate. The comment received 48 likes.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.