In article , Richard J.
writes
These pyrotechnics were exploding uncomfortably close to aircraft
on their decent to Heathrow, all around and even seemingly above
the aircraft.
Possibly true, but how do you know they were "uncomfortably close"?
Judging the relative positions of fireworks and aircraft in three
dimensions at night is difficult enough, but probably impossible if you
yourself are moving. It's very easy to misjudge completely the
position of a plane relative to the ground.

I was up the Telecom Tower last night, so about 150m above ground level.
There were a number of firework displays visible but, in every case,
they were well *below* us. [The lights of Canary Wharf gave an easy way
to check that we weren't being fooled as to where the horizon was.] I
doubt that any of them were as high as 75m.

Aircraft land at an angle of about 0.05 radians, so that's the height of
a plane 1500m (under a mile) from touchdown.

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