Virgin Atlantic flight hits supersonic speeds during extreme weather conditions

The Dreamliner knocked nearly an hour off the flight time.
The Dreamliner knocked nearly an hour off the flight time. Photo credit: Getty Images

A Virgin Atlantic flight from Los Angeles to London has managed to do what aviation designers have been attempting to do for years, achieve supersonic travel and it wasn't even planned.

A strong Jetstream over the United States of over 300 km/h boosted the Dreamliners' usual top speed of 900 km/h to over 1200 km/h.

Although the speed of the tailwind dropped substantially over the Atlantic Ocean, the speed boost was still enough for the flight landed nearly 50 minutes early, clocking a flight time of 9 hours 13 minutes.

The speed of the aircraft attracted the attention of plane enthusiasts tracking the flight online.

 "Almost 800 mph now never ever seen this kind of tailwind in my life as a commercial pilot." Peter James, a pilot with 25 years' experience tweeted.

Despite its supersonic speed, the Dreamliner was no match for the iconic Concorde which flew at nearly 2200 km/h and could cross the Atlantic in less than an hour.

Newshub.