--- title: Is It Safe to Fly During a Solar Eclipse? description: Experts discuss whether it's safe to be onboard a flight during a solar eclipse. canonical: https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/ author: Anna Gordon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-04-04T18:10:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:28.570Z article:section: Science og:title: Is It Safe to Fly During a Solar Eclipse? og:description: Experts discuss whether it's safe to be onboard a flight during a solar eclipse. og:url: https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta28c5ed638c1db7b/698a5561d075336dd7e70a34/FlyingDuringEclipse.gif?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1080 og:image:height: 608 og:image:alt: Flying During Eclipse og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Is It Safe to Fly During a Solar Eclipse? twitter:description: Experts discuss whether it's safe to be onboard a flight during a solar eclipse. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta28c5ed638c1db7b/698a5561d075336dd7e70a34/FlyingDuringEclipse.gif?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Is It Safe to Fly During a Solar Eclipse? > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=de8a16bd-be8f-40e5-af85-47d319738859&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How to Safely Watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse [Watch (HLS stream): How to Safely Watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Cm5dlQRH.m3u8) (6:15)  _Published 2024-04-02. Unsafe eclipse glasses were a significant problem in 2017, causing online retailers like Amazon to issue refunds and face a lawsuit by customers who purchased unsafe glasses. (The case was later dismissed in court.) Here’s everything you need to know about how to purchase solar eclipse glasses, get them for free—and avoid fakes._ by [Anna Gordon](https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Apr 4, 2024 6:10 PM UTC  Illustration by TIME; Getty Images by [Anna Gordon](https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/) ## Anna Gordon Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Apr 4, 2024 6:10 PM UTC Ahead of the [solar eclipse passing through the U.S.](https://time.com/6960270/solar-eclipse-2024-path-of-totality-map/) on April 8, many people may be wondering if it is safe to take a flight during the event. TIME headed straight to the experts for an answer, which was resoundingly positive. “Yes, absolutely. There's no reason not to \[fly\],” Paul Bryans, a project scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, tells TIME. A solar eclipse happens when the moon blocks the light from the sun. In terms of being on board an aircraft, this doesn’t make the sun any more of a threat than it is on regular days. “There's nothing dangerous about a solar eclipse,” says John Gianforte, director of the observatory at the University of New Hampshire, during a video call. Nevertheless, eclipses are often accompanied by safety warnings from concerned scientists and authorities warning the public about the importance of wearing eye protection. [The phenomenon of eclipse blindness](https://time.com/4890397/solar-eclipse-damage-eyes-protect/) has been documented throughout modern history. After an eclipse in 1976 in Turkey, [58 patients sought medical treatment](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00184094) for eclipse-related eye damage. While most made a full recovery, some [reportedly had permanent vision loss](https://www.livescience.com/20433-solar-eclipse-blind.html). Similarly, in 1999 after a solar eclipse passed through parts of Europe, [45 patients attended the eye casualty of a hospital in Leicester](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2800%2903597-2/abstract), England, after viewing the event. **Read More**: [_Helpful Tips for Planning Your Solar Eclipse Trip_](https://time.com/6961185/solar-eclipse-2024-travel-tips/) All this has led many people to believe that eclipses are inherently dangerous phenomena, but this is not true. The only reason we see more eye injuries on solar eclipse days is because people are intrigued and are purposefully looking at the sun. “The fact that there is an eclipse doesn't make it any more dangerous to look at the sun, but it makes people _want_ to look at the sun,” Gianforte points out. “If you look at the sun on any given day, without eye protection, you're going to damage your eyes.” As such, you can rest assured that flying during an eclipse is safe. In fact, [Delta airlines is offering a flight](https://news.delta.com/eclipse-viewing-30000-feet-delta-offer-path-totality-flight) specifically for people who want to view the eclipse in-air. The plane will have extra large windows to enhance the viewing experience. It is set to depart from Austin, Texas, at 12:15 p.m. CT and land in Detroit at 4:20 p.m. ET to give passengers the best chance possible of viewing totality. **Read More**: [_How to Use Your Smartphone to Take Photos of the Solar Eclipse_](https://time.com/6961530/how-to-photograph-solar-eclipse-smartphone/) ## **What is it like to fly during an eclipse?** The biggest advantage that comes from flying during a solar eclipse is that you may be able to stay in the path of totality for a longer period of time, since the plane can try to follow the sun’s path. This can be especially useful to scientists trying to conduct experiments that can only be done above ground, says Bryans. ### More From TIME “Instead of getting, like, four minutes of totality on the ground, you can get something like seven or eight minutes from the plane. So that helps a little bit and some of the people that I spoke to said that it was really good for science reasons,” he tells TIME. Being in the air can also guarantee that you will, at some point, be above the clouds and might be able to avoid having bad weather interrupt your viewing experience. **Read more:** [_What happens if it’s cloudy during an eclipse?_](https://time.com/6963028/what-if-solar-eclipse-cloudy-2024/) However, viewing an eclipse from a plane may not be the optimal experience for a more casual observer. Planes will have to alternate between turning right or left in order to get the best angles for viewing the sun. Additionally, a big part of viewing an eclipse is observing how the surroundings on the ground may change. For example, [animals including cats and dogs](https://time.com/6958452/how-animals-nature-react-solar-eclipse/) may react differently when an eclipse takes place. Those viewing an eclipse from a plane may miss out on this experience. “It’s not the same personal experience that you would get on the ground,” Bryans says. ## Transcript A total solar eclipse is in most astronomers opinions the most spectacular thing you can ever see. It is a parade of color and changes and of feelings and experiences that unfold very quickly and very spectacularly. My name is Rick finder. I'm an astronomer and I am the project manager of the American Astronomical Society solar eclipse task force. So it's important to know that during the total phase of a total solar eclipse when the moon is completely blocking the sun's bright face and this only happens if you're in the path of totality it is perfectly safe to look at the sun without any eye protection because the totally Eclipse sun when the sun's outer atmosphere the corona shines forth is only about as bright as a full moon. So it's just too safe to look at but it any other time during the partial phases that precede and follow totality and the entirety of a partial solar eclipse, which is all you'll get if you're outside the path, you must use some kind of safe I protection because the sun even if it's only a thin sliver is so very bright that looking at it for more than a second or so is going to cause damage to your retina. So we recommend that people equip themselves with Eclipse viewers. They come as in the form of cardboard. Framed eyeglasses or plastic frame eyeglasses also cardboard handheld viewers sometimes thick cardboard and they have special filters in that are supposed to meet a certain International standard called ISO. 12312 Dash to You'll often see that number printed on these products that if if a product meets that standard them it is perfectly safe to use to look directly at the Sun the iso 12312 - 2 standard is both a standard of what makes all of you are safe. But also what makes us older viewer usable it specifies the maximum amount of light that can get through not just in visible light also in ultraviolet and also Indian free solar eclipse glasses. Viewer is at least a thousand times darker than the even the dark Brittany sunglasses. So if you can see anything through it other than the sun you should be concerned what I tell people is look around in the house. If you can see things you see detail in the house your glasses aren't dark enough if they pass the indoor test take them outside. Don't look at the sun. Just look at the landscape again, if you can see the landscape through the glasses. They're not dark enough. Now if you passed that test you looked inside the house, you looked outside the house and you don't basically anyting take a brief glance at the sun on a sunny day. Don't wait for April 8th, if the sun looks round and sharp-edged and comfortably bright your glasses are almost certainly safe. The reason I say almost certainly is because genuinely safe eclipse glasses will also block most of the sun's ultraviolet and infrared radiation. We only see the visible light but there is ultraviolet light Moschino can damage your corny is one of the reasons we end up with cataracts Too much exposure to solar ultraviolet and infrared radiation is heat radiation. So the last thing you want to do is cook your rent the last thing I want anybody to do if they haven't been able to get their hands on eclipse glasses. There other solar viewers is to decide if there's no safe way to view the eclipse so they have to skip it. There are other safe ways to view a solar eclipse the most common one is what we call pinhole projection a bit of a misnomer because you can use holes that are bigger than the made by a p in a very simple pinhole projector is just to take your hands and create a little Waffle pattern and then Projection is done with the Sun at your back. So you put the Sun at your back and you look at the shadow of your hands with the CrossFit on the ground and you'll see little crescents sons in between the shadows of your fingers. Are you created pin holes with your fingers another great pinhole projector is a colander from your kitchen or a perforated spoon that you would use to strain soup anything with a bunch of small holes in it makes a great pinhole projector at the only time can heal projection doesn't work is if you happen to be in the path of totality during the few minutes when the sun is completely blocked by the moon the sun in total eclipse is faint enough that it's not going to create a pinhole images through any of these projectors that I was describing but during a partial face are you can use pinhole projection to see an image of the sun. There's no denying that seeing a total solar eclipse is a very emotional experience and it's partly because it's so beautiful. Partly because things happened so fast that the pace is breathtaking and it's hard to keep up how fast things are changing as the moon finally covers the Sun and then again a few minutes later as the moon begins to uncover it and what you see in between those two morons is just you know, unbelievably spectacular as soon as the eclipse is over you want to see another one. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/"},"headline":"Is It Safe to Fly During a Solar Eclipse?","datePublished":"2024-04-04T18:10:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:03:28.570Z","description":"Experts discuss whether it's safe to be onboard a flight during a solar eclipse.","url":"https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/","keywords":["Solar Eclipse 2024","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta28c5ed638c1db7b/698a5561d075336dd7e70a34/FlyingDuringEclipse.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anna Gordon","jobTitle":"Gordon was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/anna-gordon/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta28c5ed638c1db7b/698a5561d075336dd7e70a34/FlyingDuringEclipse.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Flying During Eclipse","caption":"Safe to fly during solar eclipse","creditText":"Illustration by TIME; Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/solar-eclipse-2024/","name":"Solar Eclipse 2024"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/","name":"Is It Safe to Fly During a Solar Eclipse?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"First Ever Wing Suit Jump During Solar Eclipse","description":"First Ever Wing Suit Jump During Solar Eclipse","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0sqI771j/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-21T22:23:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0sqI771j.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6963495/is-it-safe-to-fly-solar-eclipse/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How to Safely Watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse","description":"Unsafe eclipse glasses were a significant problem in 2017, causing online retailers like Amazon to issue refunds and face a lawsuit by customers who purchased unsafe glasses. 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