Q. I will fly be"h Sunday June 3 from JFK to Moscow flight time 1:05 AM scheduled to arrive in Moscow 5:20 P.M. local time. Moscow is 7 hours ahead of NY when should I daven shacharis?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that this is similar to the common trip to Eretz Yisroel, where people put on tefilin and daven in the plane, when they see the sunrise through the plane's windows, if they will arrive after the end of the z'man tefila. It is important to do so as soon as possible, since the time for davening shortens when traveling eastward.
Horav Dovid Pam Shlit'a made us aware of the new dimming windows available on Boeing's 787 airplanes, which are darkened by an electrical current that usually each passenger in a window seat can control. But they're also networked together, so at times only flight personnel can control, permitting the darkness in the plane so passengers can sleep. In such case you may have to have a watch and a chart of the flight plan including a zemanin table to figure out where you are and when sunrise is or if available use the map provided in the screen. Usually the small windows on the doors of the plane are not darkened.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit’a
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