Swiss “Jetman” flies over Grand Canyon

by Chris Partlow
in HiJinx
— 10 May, 2011

I got to give it to this 51 year old Swiss dare-devil man, this is absolutely insane. Swiss “Jetman” Yves Rossy completed an eight-minute flight along the Grand Canyon on Saturday, one day later than planned and away from the media spotlight.

Flying his jet-propelled wing attached to his back, and steering only by moving his body, Rossy launched from a helicopter at 2,440 metres above the the Grand Canyon, according to his Geneva press office.

Skimming the rockscape at speeds of up to 300 km per hour, Jetman sustained flight for more than eight minutes, 60 metres above the rim of Grand Canyon West before deploying his parachute and landing smoothly on the canyon floor.