This is what happens when a 230-ton Airbus A330 has the right angle of attack, the right low speed and the right amount of head wind: it gets suspended in the middle of the sky for a few seconds.


It feels like it's flying in slow motion, then it freezes for a couple of seconds and keeps moving in slow motion. The phenomenon has an easy explanation: the Airbus is making a very slow low pass, taking advantage of the very strong head wind combined with the minimun air speed and a high angle of attack to achieve lift for its flaps configuration (which is hard to see from the ground).

This produces extremely low ground speed, which results from the A330's air speed minus the speed of the head wind. The combination of this ground speed and the A330's size give the viewer the sensation of a plane almost frozen in midair.


In other words: MAGIC!