Stunning images of St. Elmo’s Fire captured from the airplane cockpit

A pilot captured the breathtaking spectacle of St. Elmo’s Fire from his cockpit.

Airbus Captain Luis Andress was flying from Miami to Denver last month when he stumbled upon the scene.

It came as Hurricane Ian made its destructive path through Florida, causing over $50 billion in damage.

St. Elmo’s Fire occurs when the atmosphere charges, creating an electrical plasma discharge between an object and the air around it.

This can happen to aircraft flying through highly charged skies.

Luis explains, “I live in Florida and I did the MIA-DEN the same day Hurricane Ian passed.

“It was a spectacle to see the St. Elmo’s Fire phenomenon. It was such a show.

“I was impressed because it was the first time I saw them with such intensity.”

Hurricane Ian was a large and destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that was the deadliest hurricane to strike the state of Florida since the Labor Day hurricane of 1935.

Ian caused widespread damage in western Cuba and the southeastern United States, particularly in the states of Florida and South Carolina.

The Fire of St. Elmo is named after St. Erasmus of Formia, also known as St. Elmo, the patron saint of seafarers.

The phenomenon, which can warn of an impending lightning strike, was viewed with awe by sailors and sometimes taken as a good omen.

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