They Were Stranded On Runway, Then World-Class Violinist Began Playing

Travelling by air can sometimes be a nightmare - especially if your flight is delayed and you have no idea when you'll get to your intended destination. That's what happened to the passengers of a flight from The Netherlands' Amsterdam to Portugal's Lisbon after their plane was diverted and forced to make an emergency landing in Porto. Stranded indefinitely on the runway, the passengers started to get restless. That's when a world-class violinist pulled out his instrument and began to play. 

Violinist Ray Chen, 29, wrote on social media that though playing the violin was "the last thing" on his mind, he knew how stressful delays while travelling could get. So, he whipped out his Stradivarius violin and began "a good old airplane performance."

A short video posted on his official Facebook profile shows Mr Chen walking down the aisle as he plays a delightful tune by JS Bach. The classical music was clearly a hit as passengers can be seen smiling widely and filming Mr Chen's impromptu performance. 

Watch the video below:
 

On Facebook, the video racked up over 41,000 views since Friday.

"Wow! The passengers surely had a treat by listening to a world renowned concert violinist... who is within their reach! I envy them" commented one person on the video. "Aww Ray, you've gained a whole plane worth of fans," commented another.

"Careful with your bow in those tight quarters," joked a third. 

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Mr Chen won prestigious Yehudi Menuhin and Queen Elizabeth competitions. He has released five critically acclaimed albums and has thousands of followers on social media.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Mr Chen wrote on Facebook that the flight eventually made it to Lisbon, three hours after it was supposed to.