"The most spectacular home coming I’ve ever had"

Sig­urður Jök­ull Ólafs­son was on an Icelandair flight from Copenhagen when a volcanic eruption began on the Reykjanes peninsula. The captain of the flight informed the passengers of the plane that the eruption had started and they had a good view of the eruption before the flight landed. He says it was amazing to have seen the eruption from the high altitude.

The airplane flew over to see the eruption

After a long trip from Genoa, Ólafsson was on his way home with a stopover in Milan and Copenhagen.

“I didn’t know about the eruption. So when we’re about to land, the captain says that it’s started to erupt and that we’ll be flying over,” he says, adding that even though it was a bit cloudy, the eruption was quite visible.

When the plane approached Keflavik airport, Ólafsson says, there was so much light that it felt like flying into a big city.

“The view of the eruption was on my side and the whole plane stretched as far as it could to see it.”

According to Sigurður, the view was absolutely amazing.

Scary but magnificent

“I can’t say anything but after a long day of traveling, this is the most spectacular home coming I’ve ever had, and will probably have,” he says.

“Most of the passengers on the plane were foreigners,” says Ólafsson, “and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the experience they expected.”

“Everyone realizes that this is scary because of the proximity of the area, but nevertheless, it’s magnificent.”