Grand Canyon at Sunset is at its most beautiful and has been captured by Boeing 747 Captain Christiaan van Heijst.
Subscribe to the Airlineratings.com newsletter to get the relevant news first
World’s Top Twenty Safest Airlines 2023
NTSB Slams Ethiopian MAX Crash Report
Christiaan van Heijst takes up the story;
“A breathtaking area defined by steep-angled canyons that formed over the course of millions of years as the Colorado river cut its way through the landscape, revealing sedimentary layers that were built up during billions of years.
“A trip down to geological history within a glance.
“Seen here while flying 37,000 ft above, it is also one of the few natural spectacles that is visible from the International Space Station. A charismatic scar on the face of the Earth, if there ever was one.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen it from the ground. Thirty-five years to be precise: with my parents on a weekend trip from Phoenix during winter when I was just four years old. I still have some memories of that time, remembering the beautiful snow-covered mountains intermixing with so many hues of orange and red from the canyons below.
“I can’t wait to go back and explore Arizona once more.”
Christiaan is one of the world’s leading aviation photographers and more of his work and close encounter (s) can be found here.
You can follow Christiaan on Instagram here: @jpcvanheijst
About AirlineRatings.com
Airlineratings.com was developed to provide everyone in the world a one-stop shop for everything related to airlines, formed by a team of aviation editors, who have forensically researched nearly every airline in the world.
Our rating system is rated from one to seven stars on safety – with seven being the highest ranking. Within each airline, you will find the country of origin, airline code, booking URL and seat map information. The rating system takes into account a number of different factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies, lead associations, as well as the airlines, own safety data. Every airline has a safety rating breakdown so you can see exactly how they rate.
Over 230 of the airlines on the site that carry 99 per cent of the world’s passengers have a product rating. Given that low-cost, regional and full-service carriers are so different we have constructed a different rating system for each which can be found within each airline.
Airlineratings.com has information on over 30 types of aircraft from the latest Boeing 787 to the A380 and smaller jets.
Best of all, there are simple answers to many of the quirky questions including:
“What are all those noises after takeoff and before landing?”
“Why do you have to put the window shades up for landing and takeoff?”
“What is a winglet and what is it for?
“Why is it so costly to fly short distances?”
“How often is an aircraft maintained?
“How strong is a wing?”
“How do they test aircraft”
“How often do plane tyres need to be replaced?
