This is the moment a NASA plane flew over a toxic haze blanketing northern Thailand.

Footage shows the Douglas DC-8-72 jetliner flying low over the polluted hellscape of Chiang Mai province on March 16.

The flying science laboratory had arrived from Seoul, South Korea, on March 13 to observe air quality throughout Thailand.

Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency said the plane, as well as NASA's Gulfstream C-20A aircraft that flew in from the Philippines, will be in the country from March 25 to 27 to survey air pollution.

The mission comes as Chiang Mai ranked worst in the world for air pollution last week, according to Swiss air quality monitoring company IQAir.

Dangerous levels of deadly PM 2.5 particles - which cause cancer and other debilitating illnesses - are recorded every year in Thailand between December and April.

Despite paying lip service for several years, politicians have failed to stop individuals from burning their land due to it being cheaper and easier than modern farming methods.

In March 2023, the Public Health Ministry of Thailand reported that around 1.3 million people in the country had been unwell due to the rising levels of air pollution. Officials said 200,000 residents were hospitalised in a single week.

They warned hospitals in December 2023 to prepare for an influx of patients.

It came as researchers from Peking University in Beijing, China, also discovered that long-term exposure to particulate matter PM.25 air pollution is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer.

In December, Dr Krittai Thanasombatkul from Chiang Mai, Thailand, died of lung cancer. He had previously blamed PM 2.5 microdust particles for his condition.

The New York State Department of Health say PM 2.5 increases the risk of heart disease, asthma, and low birth weight.

While medics from South Korea published research in the National Institute of Health in the United States that said the pollutant increases the risk of stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and other illnesses such as immune deficiency and even obesity.