Pilot in his 20s sky-writes 'I'm bored' during 2-hour flight over northwest England

A routine post-maintenance test flight over the United Kingdom turned into an unexpected and somewhat scary spectacle when a flying instructor in his 20s used the aircraft's flight path to spell out the words "I'm bored" across the sky.

The message, captured by airline tracking website Flightradar24, quickly became one of the most talked-about incidents on social media for airline enthusiasts and others after the aircraft traced the phrase during a two-hour flight over northwest England and North Wales.

Unlike a commercial passenger flight, the journey was a scheduled test run following maintenance work on the aircraft, according to the airline.


The Ravenair-operated Piper Tomahawk departed from Liverpool at around 11:25 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 11. It spent about two hours flying over the Wirral peninsula, Cheshire and North Wales before safely returning, according to Flightradar24.

According to the BBC, the aircraft had been taken on a test flight by a flying instructor in his 20s after a part was replaced on the plane.

The aircraft's cylinder, a critical component where fuel is burned to generate power, had recently been replaced and needed to be tested before the plane could return to service.

"I think the pilot was literally a bit bored as it was just a test flight," operation manager Wayne Barrett told the BBC. "Mind you it was pretty skillful flying."

Barrett explained that the maintenance check required the aircraft to spend an extended period in the air to ensure it was operating safely after the repair.

The test was successful, but the pilot's creative route ended up becoming the flight's most talked-about feature.

"He was a bit bored, but he probably had to concentrate a lot in the end to spell out the words, so he was probably anything but," Barrett said.

According to Barrett, the aircraft has since returned safely to the hangar, while the pilot is now enjoying his day off.

The unusual flight path brought discussion online, but this is not the first time a pilot has used a flight path to send a message. In 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic prompted lockdowns around the world, a pilot in Austria used a flight to spell out "Stay Home" in the sky.


In 2019 an Australian pilot also did the same stint with the same message 'I'm bored' in more readable way.


Aviation experts say there is little reason for concern given the nature of the mission. Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the blog View From the Wing, told Fox News Digital there is little cause for concern from his point of view because the flight was conducted to test the aircraft rather than transport passengers.

"This was a test flight, not a passenger flight," Leff said. "Writing 'I'm bored' takes a certain amount of skill and suggests the pilot was anything but distracted."

Leff also noted that the most demanding work for pilots typically happens before takeoff, during takeoff and landing.