Flight of a lifetime, impromptu detour mesmerizes passengers

Thursday, November 22, 2018, 6:30 AM - Passengers who embarked on Alaska Airlines flight AS401 received an unbelievable bonus as fog shrouded Sea-Tac airport near Seattle. See the photos of the up close mountainous encounter below.

FLIGHT FACTS

• Flight AS401 from Las Vegas to Seattle made a close flyby of Mt. Rainier in Washington
• Flight normally takes just over two hours, but with fog in Seattle, delay caused nearly a four hour flight
• After six circular holding maneuvers the plane took off to Mount Rainier and passed the mountain a couple thousand feet above the summit

On Thursday afternoon, visibility at Sea-Tac airport fell to under an 1/8 of a mile (less than 200 metres), so the pilots of flight AS401 were unable to land with those drastically reduced visibility. So, the pilots got a little creative: 

VIEWS FROM THE PASSENGERS ABOARD

FLIGHT PATH FROM START TO FINISH

Although the flight was delayed by nearly two hours, this impromptu detour made the journey a little more bearable.

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