Flying Over a Rainbow Is Said to Bring Good Luck-and This U.S. Route Gives You the Best Chance to See One

""According to a popular and enduring pilot's superstition, flying over a rainbow brings extreme good luck for the journey," the team explained in its findings, which were shared with Travel + Leisure. Inspired by this belief, the team partnered with Austin to combine its flight tracking data with her meteorological analysis to find the flights most likely to directly fly through the most rainbow-dense locations on Earth."

""The beauty of distributed flight tracking is that it captures patterns invisible to any single observer," said Robin Wingardh, CEO and cofounder of Wingbits. "With Dr. Austin's meteorological data, we were able to draw from the range of data provided by our global community to find the world's 'luckiest' flight paths. We hope this brings a smile to travellers and perhaps inspires them to choose a window seat on their next journey.""

"After looking at all the data, it named one special North American route starting from the U.S. as the luckiest of all: Virginia's Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Canada. The flight passes over Niagara Falls, offering a high chance of rainbows."

Wingbits combined distributed flight-tracking data with meteorological analysis from Elizabeth Austin to identify commercial routes most likely to fly through rainbow-dense locations. The search was inspired by a pilot superstition that flying over a rainbow brings extreme good luck. Distributed tracking revealed patterns invisible to any single observer, enabling the identification of global 'luckiest' flight paths. The top-ranked North American route runs from Washington Dulles (IAD) to Toronto Pearson (YYZ) and passes over Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls, situated between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and composed of Horseshoe Falls, American Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls, produces constant mist, increasing rainbow likelihood for that flight.

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