A video of a thrilling cockpit view of a plane speeding over night clouds 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 film captures the approach and landing on the runway of Istanbul Airport, the 44-year-old pilot said News week. Sağdıç worked in air traffic control for 16 years before he became a pilot in 2016.
The latest clip begins with a dramatic scene over a bed of clouds under a dark night sky. The plane continues to accelerate, with patches of bright city lights below peeking through the clouds.
Later the plane veers sharply to the left a couple of times, with a few flashes of light visible across the screen, before the plane races onto the runway at Istanbul Airport.
The latest viral job comes as the pilot profession is ranked among the “100 Best Jobs” in the 2023 edition of US News’ annual ranking, coming in at 48 this year.
The job was ranked fourth among the list’s “Best Social Services Jobs” and 10th among the “Best Paying Jobs”. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a pilot in 2022 was reported to be $148,900.
While the piloting profession may be among the most coveted in the world, 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 as of May 2023, global traffic was now reported to be 96.1 percent of May 2019 (pre-pandemic) levels.
However, the industry is struggling to keep up with travel demand due to a shortage of pilots.
Earlier this year, Faye Malarkey Black, president and CEO of the Regional Aviation Association, a US House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, warned of “the impending tsunami of pilot retirements.”
He said “over the next 15 years, almost 50 percent of the commercial airline workforce will be forced to retire as they reach the age of 65.”
“This year, 2,225 pilots must retire. Required retirements will peak in 2029 at 3,750, when today’s 58-year-old pilots turn 65. After that, retirements remain high, staying higher than the 2023 rate for the foreseeable future,” Black noted.
‘Dancing With the Clouds’
A caption shared with the latest viral Instagram clip reads: “Dance with the clouds and feel the rhythm of the sky from the cockpit! Join me on this harmonious journey above the world.”
Instagram users were taken aback by the latest video, which at the time of writing had over 216,000 likes.
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 got 48 likes.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in search of common ground.