As anyone who watched Twitch Plays Pokémon will know, handing the controller over to Twitch chat can be chaotic at best, platform-breaking at worst. Yet somewhat surprisingly, the hordes managed to fly a plane in Microsoft Flight Sim – even completing some risky manoeuvres and successfully landing the aircraft.
The experiment was hosted by Rami Ismail, co-founder of Vlambeer, who set up the stream allowing Twitch chat members to change the speed, heading and target altitude of a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner (amongst other functions). Surprisingly, Twitch chat was able to take off from Košice International Airport, fly around for about an hour, perform a barrel roll and then return to the Slovakian airport where the flight began. Not bad considering the plane had dozens of pilots.
As ever with Twitch chat, however, there was a fair amount of squabbling and sabotage – including one mischievous chat member who kept trying to cut the engines on takeoff. Ismail noted there was a rare moment of unity when the clouds opened up, giving everyone the chance to have a look at the scenery.