Daring Travelers Take Flight 666 Straight to HEL on Friday the 13th

Although it may feel like you’re bound straight for Satan’s kingdom whenever you’re stuck in coach on a long-distance redeye flight, some very brave passengers actually chose to flirt with doom by taking a trip directly to the tarmacs of HEL.  

Those aboard Finnair's Flight 666 from Copenhagen, Denmark to Helsinki, Finland on Friday were passengers on what's easily the most evil flight in commercial air travel. The flight landed safely at Helsinki Airport, which uses the airport code HEL, and managed to pull off this dastardly feat on Friday, October 13th -- Satan's favorite day of the Gregorian Calendar. The trek managed to touch down in HEL at 3:53pm without any incident of human or animal sacrifice. That would have surely violated the airline's passenger safety policies. 

For those of you uninformed in the ways of Lucifer, 666 is the Number of the Beast, as determined by the New Testament's Book of Revelations. Over time, it's come to bear an association with Satanism, thus the flight's reputation as the standard bearer of evil airplanes. 

Flight 666 has been around for a while, and pilots are well aware of its humorous undertones. Last year, when Flight AY666 landed safely in HEL, pilot Juha-Pekka Keidasto told The Telegraph: "It has been quite a joke among the pilots. I'm not a superstitious man. It's only a coincidence for me." 

For satanists, today's Flight 666 should come as a sad farewell, though, as it's the last flight to bear the satanic number. On October 29, the flight will be renamed Flight 954, in what is sure to be a crushing blow to Scandinavian black metal fans everywhere. 

[h/t Conde Nast Traveler

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Sam Blum is a News Staff Writer for Thrillist. He's also a martial arts and music nerd who appreciates a fine sandwich and cute dogs. Find his clips in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, The A.V. Club and Esquire. He's on Twitter @Blumnessmonster.