Did we see a SpaceX Rocket Launch from an Airplane?
Amazing Sight from the Sky
On January the 15, 2023 my family and I witnessed the MOST amazing spectacle while aboard a WestJet flight to Toronto from Willemstad, Curacao. I can’t imagine the percentage of people that would ever see something like this… maybe .001%? Maybe less?
It is so unique, and we feel extremely lucky to have been in the right place at the right time. Read below to find out what we saw from the airplane, and it wasn’t just a sunset! It was a ROCKET LAUNCH!
How it started
I had the window seat and shade open as usual at around 3:50pm that January afternoon, and was checking out the beautiful sunset from the very advantageous perspective of our aircraft. This view really never gets old and I have lots of footage over the years from a plane window, but I don’t think I’ll ever see something like I saw that afternoon again in my lifetime: A rocket launch from the SpaceX program at Cape Canaveral!
How our day went before this happened….
I’d love to tell you that prior to this, our day was just a normal day.. with the regular packing/showering/cleaning up the airbnb and driving to the airport… but it WAS NOT!
It was our first trip to the island, and although we felt pretty comfortable and understood the area at a basic level after two weeks, we were in for a new lesson in travel.
After we packed and cleaned up the airbnb, took the garbage out and loaded the luggage into the car, we set off for the 30 minute drive to Hato Airport in Willemstad.
We had driven this highway several times already throughout our stay; back and forth to the grocery store, to the downtown area and various excursions. We noticed differences as we normally do in the local traffic signage, and even noted a strange traffic circle (round-about) that actually had you yielding to traffic from the inside of the circle. This was all fine.
Drivers seemed a little more lax in road rules, speeds etc… also, all fine – you adapt. The great thing about drivers in Curacao is that they’re more than willing to let you in, cross traffic to turn left etc.
It’s all very kind, and they’ll give you a friendly honk if you return the favor!
A Unfortunate Accident
So we continued our pleasant drive towards the airport that hot afternoon, reminiscing about what great holiday we had just finished. We left the airbnb at 11:30am with a late checkout as our flight wasn’t scheduled to depart until 3:00pm that afternoon.
That had us arriving at Hato at 12pm; a good 3 hours before our flight. As we rounded the corner and my husband turned his left signal light on to enter the rental car return lot, we heard a loud BANG.
At first we were stunned and had no idea if something was wrong with the car, or something had happened near the car or at the airport. After a few seconds of silence, my husband noticed his side mirror was missing… then we started to connect the dots.
As we looked out of the car window, we saw a man on the ground with his motorcycle beside him. He had tried to go around our LEFT turning car because we were going too slow, and hit us as my husband turned the wheel to go left into the parking lot. Everyone was in shock.
There was a ton of witnesses, most of whom had just started their vacation and were on their way out of the rental car lot. The injured man was in a very bad way, likely a broken leg and definitely some bad head injuries. We helped him to sit on the curb and someone dialed the authorities for us.
As we all waited for an ambulance and the authorities to arrive, the injured man got up and tried to start his motorbike. A dutch speaking individual spoke to him and convinced the poor man to stay.
Our rental car company came out to the scene and helped us move the car out of the dangerous intersection and then the authorities showed up to interview the drivers and photograph the accident.
The motorcycle driver refused medical help and was later taken away by the police. We found out from our rental car company that he was in the country illegally from Jamaica. I will write another blog post about this accident in more detail another time. I’m sure you have questions!
Did We Make the Flight?
After all of this, we definitely thought we were going to miss our flight but by some miracle we made it through check-in, security and all the way to the gate before it boarded. And boy, are we lucky we did make the flight!
We were still really shaken; having never been in such a serious car accident before with another person. The plane took off on time and we were just settling in for the 5 hour journey back to Canada.
The Most EPIC Plane Ride
As I mentioned above, I had my shade open and was watching the beautiful sunset from the plane, feeling very thankful that my family had not been injured. I was thinking about the Jamaican man and his troubles and hoping he was okay.
Then I saw something strange in the sky beyond the plane.. at first I wasn’t sure what it was. I watched by myself for a few minutes before nudging my husband and son to have a look.
They looked at me puzzled.. what was it? Another plane with a vapor trail behind it? The shape seemed wrong, and it was changing quite quickly.
I turned away and opened up the Westjet App on my phone to see where abouts on the map we were on our flight path. I noticed that directly to our west was Florida!
Having witnessed a rocket launch from the ground at Cape Canaveral there in 2020, I was fairly certain that’s what we were seeing now! I said out loud.. “It’s a rocket launch!!!”
Several people in the immediate vicinity became more alert and starting opening their window shades. That’s when the pilot came on and announced that if we were sitting on the left side of the plane, that a rocket from SpaceX had just been launched and could be seen from the plane.
I had a bunch of people hand me their phone and ask me to take a photo of it. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity we were witnessing, I just couldn’t believe our luck!!
After giving everyone their phones back, I took mine back out and shot a few more pictures as the payload detached.
These shots from start to finish were taken in the span of about 10 minutes around 4pm. I managed to get a short video as well, likely a mistake as I was frantically trying to take more still pictures.
Our Takeaway from Watching a SpaceX Rocket from an Airplane
As travelers, you certainly get to experience many different things that life has to offer. From cultures, to food, people, languages and experiences. Some are good, some are okay, some are bad, and some are EXTRAORDINARY!
They say that the best education is to be well-traveled. We are beyond blessed that we have been able to travel as much as we have, and that our son has been to 11 different countries in his lifetime so far with us.
Seeing the rocket launch from our airplane…IT WAS EPIC! The best travel experience EVER. I don’t know if we’ll ever top this completely unique event that we were lucky enough to witness.
When we think about the fact that we watched SpaceX launch from the ground not 3 years before, it just deepens and and enriches the entire experience.
Grateful is what we are. Traveling has made all of this possible.
“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru
Travel as much as you’re able to; you never know when you’re going to write your own epic story!
xoxo Tanya
Oh that’s so cool