Today's Edition
Yousuf Saifuddin Kapadia (Abu Dhabi)
It looked like an ordinary morning flight for a small plane over the UAE, until its route appeared on a flight-tracking map: It spelled out ‘UAE 55’ in a pilot’s salute to 55 years of the Union ahead of Eid Al Etihad.
A video — shared on Instagram by pilot Mohamed Al Ameeri — shows the flight path traced on FlightAware. It first formed the letters ‘UAE’, then ‘55’ followed as a subscript tucked beneath the ‘E’.
A replay on Flightradar24 shows the Tecnam P2008 light aircraft, registered as A6-EYZ, taking off from Jazirah Airport in Ras Al Khaimah (OMRJ) on the morning of November 14 and returning to same airport after completing the message.
The tribute comes ahead of the 55th Eid Al Etihad on December 2, marking 55 years since the founding of the UAE in 1971.
View this post on Instagram
At the time of filing this story, the video has garnered over 205,000 views on Instagram, with over 3,500 likes and several comments commending Al Ameeri's effort.
Held this year under the theme ‘Belonging in Unity’, the occasion brings families, communities and generations together to honour the nation’s heritage and the people who have shaped it.
Everyone is invited to make, celebrate, share and sing. From parades to neighbourhood gatherings, events will run across all seven emirates.
