Pilot detours for volcano view

Fountains of lava spurt from a fissure in the ground on the north side of the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland on Tuesday, September 2.

Mount Tavurvur erupts Friday, August 29, in eastern Papua New Guinea, forcing local communities to evacuate and international flights to be rerouted.

The Tungurahua volcano, as seen from Ambato, Ecuador, spews a column of ash on April 4. The volcano emitted a 6-mile-high column of ash after a powerful, five-minute explosion that shot pyroclastic material onto its northern and northwestern flanks. The volcano has been active since 1999, with several major eruptions in that span.

A villager in Karo, Indonesia, bathes in a river while Mount Sinabung erupts, spewing lava and giant clouds of ash on January 21.

Mount Etna, as seen from the town of Acireale, Italy, spews lava during an eruption on November 16.

Smoke and ash spew from Mount Sakurajima, in Kagoshima, Japan, in October.

Lava from the Puu Oo cone of the Kilauea volcano reaches the Pacific Ocean on the southeastern coast of Hawaii Island in January 2013. Puu Oo has been erupting for more than 30 years. This eruption, on the volcano's east rift, began in January 1983.

The Karymsky volcano erupts in Kamchatka, Russia, in January 2013.

The Copahue volcano emits smoke and ash above Caviahue, in Argentina's Neuquen province, in December 2012.

Western Mexico's Colima volcano emits lava in October 2004. The Global Volcanism Program reported "a bright thermal anomaly" as well as gas emission in November.

• Icelandair pilot loops back to give passengers a better view of Bardarbunga


• Volcanic activity around Bardabunga recently caused Iceland to raise an aviation alert


• In 2010 an Icelandic volcano caused weeks of disruption to flights to and from Europe

(CNN) -- Erupting Icelandic volcanoes have been known to ground flights, but this time they kept one up in the air as a pilot looped around to give passengers a better view of the spectacle.

The extraordinary detour over the smoke and lava-spewing Bardarbunga volcano was captured on camera by one passenger and the image was later posted on Twitter by the airline.

"Our pilot made an extra circle around #Bardarbunga this morning to let passengers check it out," it said, thanking Erla Vinsy for the photo.

It's not often passenger plane pilots turn tour guide, with most sticking to dry commentary about airspeed, altitude and weather and confining off-flightpath maneuvers to holding patterns above busy airports.

Volcanic activity around Bardarbunga in August prompted Iceland's Meteorological Office to briefly raise the aviation threat level to red, its highest.

There were fears of a repeat of the travel chaos of 2010 when a huge eruption from another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, led to weeks of flight cancellations.

The alert related to Bardabunga was lowered to orange just days later and restrictions dropped, but officials said seismic activity was continuing at the volcano.

Volcanic ash can be a serious hazard to aircraft, reducing visibility, damaging flight controls and ultimately causing jet engines to fail.

From a safe distance though, it's got to be worth a second look.

Our pilot made an extra circle around #Bardarbunga this morning to let passengers check it out. Thanks to Erla Vinsý! http://ift.tt/1qyPM6M

— Icelandair (@Icelandair) September 3, 2014

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