Hawaii-bound flight passengers got to celebrate new year’s eve 2018 twice

Twitter / @VishwasDass

Usually we have only one shot at a New Year’s celebration. If it doesn’t go quite as we hoped, we have to wait patiently until Dec. 31 rolls around again.

For the lucky passengers on a Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Hawaii, a do-over came much sooner. Hawaiian Airlines Flight HA446 took off from Auckland, New Zealand, on the first day of 2018 and landed in Honolulu on the last day of 2017.

Time Hop

No, they didn’t accidentally board Marty McFly’s DeLorean. In fact, the jet traveled through several time zones and the International Date Line. The International Date Line zig-zags from the North Pole to the South Pole through the sparsely populated Pacific Ocean. It separates the Western Hemisphere from the Eastern Hemisphere.

Also, the time difference between Auckland and Honolulu is 23 hours. As a result, passengers onboard the Hawaiian Airlines flight experienced the time travel effect and the chance to ring in the new year twice. It takes just over eight hours to fly from Auckland to Honolulu, so everyone on board had plenty of time to prep for New Year’s Eve take two.

The flight tracking website Flightradar24’s Twitter account was first to point out the time-hopping flight.

With an ABC reporter capturing the flight times to illustrate the funny occurrence:

At least one passenger onboard recognized the time difference.

Another commenter remembered taking a similar flight from Australia. She even enjoyed complimentary Champagne, which seems appropriate.

https://twitter.com/kerryafirth/status/947680014560055296

Other commenters noted the similarities to “Back to the Future.” Unlike McFly,  however, the Hawaiian airlines passengers had a bit more leg room.

Interestingly, this “back to the future” phenomenon almost didn’t happen. Flight HA446 was originally scheduled to depart Auckland at 11:55 pm on Dec. 31, 2017, but the plane was actually a bit delayed. The short delay bumped it five minutes into the new year. So, it actually left at 12:05 am on Jan. 1, 2018.

Happy New Year, again!

 

Entertainment, Good News, News, Travel
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About the Author
Jennifer Nied
Jennifer Nied is a freelance writer and editor based in New York City. She focuses on beauty, wellness, and travel stories with a background covering the spa industry.

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