Air New Zealand pilots capture rare Aurora Australia from cockpit during solar storm

Air New Zealand pilots have captured a remarkable view of the Aurora Australis that lit the country’s skies in a multitude of colours last night.

Captain Chris Durney and First Officer Tauseef Ahmed were flying from Melbourne to Wellington on NZ256 in an Airbus A320 last night when the natural phenomenon began taking place.

A rare type of space weather – called a solar storm – was forecast overnight, unleashing geomagnetic activity across the planet and triggering the aurora.

It was visible from the ground in various clear regions of the South Island, including Canterbury, Otago and Southland, and also from the sky for these homebound pilots.

“It was an absolute privilege to witness around 30 to 40 minutes of last night’s solar storm from the flight deck,” Durney and Ahmed said.

“Aurora Australis lit up the sky in brilliant shades of pink, purple and green - it was truly a beautiful sight.

Pilots Chris Durney and Tauseef Ahmed had a prime view of the Aurora Australis as they crossed the Tasman. Photo / Air New Zealand

“Moments like that remind you how lucky we are to have a front-row seat to such incredible natural wonders.”

Transpower, which manages New Zealand’s electric grid, earlier said the unusual space weather would interfere with the nation’s power supplies.

It issued a grid emergency notice as a precaution, with power lines in the South Island disconnected overnight to safeguard the grid against the storm.

Pink, purple and green lights lit up the cockpit of NZ256 last night. Photo / Air New Zealand

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has concluded that the last of three coronial mass injections is under way and hitting Earth, but the risk to New Zealand’s infrastructure has decreased significantly since last night.

International and domestic experts were continuing to monitor the storm.

“While this event wasn’t damaging, we are in a ‘solar maximum’ (a period of high solar activity) that started in October 2024 and increased solar activity is expected over the next few years,” NZ Civil Defence wrote on social media.

“Space weather activity can cause severe damage to New Zealand’s infrastructure, particularly the national electricity grid, with flow-on effects to power dependent services such as cell phone and internet services.”

Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.

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