Pilot draws raised fist with flight path in honour of George Floyd

‘End racism,’ he wrote on Facebook

Pilot draws raised fist (Flight Aware)

A pilot showed his support for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement by “drawing” a raised fist in the sky.

Dimitri Neonakis from Canada designed a flight path that would chart the outline of a fist over Halifax.

Taking nearly two and a half hours on Thursday 4 June, the aerial tribute covered 330 nautical miles.

Tracking site Flight Aware shared a speeded-up video of the flight path last week, tweeting: “HAPPENING NOW In the skies over Halifax, Canada.”

Neonakis shared the flight path on his Facebook page, dedicating it “For George” and also sharing a picture of George Floyd alongside images of his journey.

“Today I flew this 330 nautical mile flight pattern which took the shape of a movement symbol which I respect and support,” he posted.

“While I was up there moving around free, the words of George Floyd ‘I can’t breathe’ came to mind a few times, a stark contrast.

“I see a world of one race in multi colours – this is the world I see, and this is my message.

“End racism.”

The post has been shared 4,600 times and garnered 3,200 likes at the time of writing.

“That is amazing – what an impressive flight pattern! Thank you sir!” wrote one social media user, while another commented: “Awesome job. Creative, forceful, beautiful. Thank you.”

It’s not the first time a pilot has used a flight path to “draw” a message in the sky.

In March 2020, as many countries first entered lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, a pilot used their flight path to write the words “stay home”.

The sentiment could be seen by using a flight tracking site, which shows planes’ exact routes.

They left the message while flying a Diamond DA40 single-engine aircraft over Austrian airspace.