What's the most amazing thing you've seen from a plane
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,591
Fireworks a few times flying near the 4th of July
Various forest fires in California - once flying home to LA from the bay area when there were a bunch of reported fires, there was a big one in the wrong place that turned out to be a new one that hadn't made a lot of news yet. I flew east along the mountains near the end of the Station fire and was trying to figure out what cities some of the lights were from and realized it was the remnants of the fire.
Greenland ice cap.
Various forest fires in California - once flying home to LA from the bay area when there were a bunch of reported fires, there was a big one in the wrong place that turned out to be a new one that hadn't made a lot of news yet. I flew east along the mountains near the end of the Station fire and was trying to figure out what cities some of the lights were from and realized it was the remnants of the fire.
Greenland ice cap.
#17
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: United Platinum, Marriott Platinum, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 221
What's the most amazing thing you've seen from a plane
1. Seeing lots of whales breach during a hopper from KOA to OGG
2. The colors of a setting sun over Grand Canyon on a few flights from PHX and LAS
3. A close, cloudless view of the last remaining glaciers on Mt. Kilimanjaro that shimmered in the morning glow on a flight from JRO to NBO (Views of Mt Rainier from WAS aren't bad too if there's no cloud cover)
4. The sea of ramshackle shacks and bustle of humanity in the slum of Dharavi on an evening landing in BOM
5. This never gets old for me - the glow of sun at dawn or dusk on the island of Manhattan on a southerly approach while landing at LGA
6. The views of azure blue lakes in Patagonia, esp Lago Argentina, on a flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafete
2. The colors of a setting sun over Grand Canyon on a few flights from PHX and LAS
3. A close, cloudless view of the last remaining glaciers on Mt. Kilimanjaro that shimmered in the morning glow on a flight from JRO to NBO (Views of Mt Rainier from WAS aren't bad too if there's no cloud cover)
4. The sea of ramshackle shacks and bustle of humanity in the slum of Dharavi on an evening landing in BOM
5. This never gets old for me - the glow of sun at dawn or dusk on the island of Manhattan on a southerly approach while landing at LGA
6. The views of azure blue lakes in Patagonia, esp Lago Argentina, on a flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafete
#18
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: MT, USA
Programs: Ex-5C club, Skymiles Gold
Posts: 454
What's the most amazing thing you've seen from a plane
1. My own house during early stages of getting my private pilot's license. It really does give you an amazing perspective.
2. Aurora Borealis over the North Pole on EK 777 from Seatac to DXB. We opened the shades and watched for the most amazing fifteen minutes.
2. Aurora Borealis over the North Pole on EK 777 from Seatac to DXB. We opened the shades and watched for the most amazing fifteen minutes.
#19
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Location: Sydney Australia
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#21
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA
Posts: 268
I don't normally pick the window seat, but fireworks are always impressive to see! I've enjoyed that on a few 4th of July flights.
Would LOVE to see the Aurora Borealis period, but from the air would be amazing.
I'll have to keep my eyes open during my flight to the Red Center in a few weeks. Thanks for the tip, OP!
#23
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 92
1. Ice caps (NYC-Hong Kong)
2. Sand dunes in the Sahara (FRA-ADD or similar)
3. Alps (FRA-TRN or FRA-ACC)
4. Some kind of crazy gas flares over the Stans (DEL-LHR)
5. Manhattan and a great view of Central Park BOS-DCA
6. Flying over shallow tropical waters incl. Bahamas and Philippines
2. Sand dunes in the Sahara (FRA-ADD or similar)
3. Alps (FRA-TRN or FRA-ACC)
4. Some kind of crazy gas flares over the Stans (DEL-LHR)
5. Manhattan and a great view of Central Park BOS-DCA
6. Flying over shallow tropical waters incl. Bahamas and Philippines
#25
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Northern Nevada
Programs: DL,EK
Posts: 1,652
Some sort of very bright moving light under the clouds, near the surface in extreme northern Canada. I still don't know what it was... like a searchlight pointed up, but not just sweeping from a fixed point, rather moving around. I watched it for about 5 minutes
Northern Lights on a flight SEA-KEF.
Urmia Lake in north-west Iran in 1990 with its (at the time) unfinished bridge across the midpoint that was halted after the 1979 revolution.
Low altitude flight over the atolls of the Maldives.
Cessna 182 flight over Mozambique and the Zambezi river delta.
Northern Lights on a flight SEA-KEF.
Urmia Lake in north-west Iran in 1990 with its (at the time) unfinished bridge across the midpoint that was halted after the 1979 revolution.
Low altitude flight over the atolls of the Maldives.
Cessna 182 flight over Mozambique and the Zambezi river delta.
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 11,439
Two B2 bombers flying in formation moving from our left to the right, below us.
Nighttime flight in a thunderstorm, looked out and saw lightning flashing behind a tunnel in the clouds. Looked like some cool Sci-Fi movie effect.
Landing at HKG, as viewed from the flight deck of a 747. Air was so dirty we couldn't see both end of the runway.
Nighttime flight in a thunderstorm, looked out and saw lightning flashing behind a tunnel in the clouds. Looked like some cool Sci-Fi movie effect.
Landing at HKG, as viewed from the flight deck of a 747. Air was so dirty we couldn't see both end of the runway.
#27
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 552
Well, indeed the Australian outback which looks like a Mars landscape.
Same for the Libyan desert on KL597 AMS-CPT flight last year.
Here Alpha Centauri above the wing of the EK's 77W DXB-CPT over the Saudi Arabian desert.
Same for the Libyan desert on KL597 AMS-CPT flight last year.
Here Alpha Centauri above the wing of the EK's 77W DXB-CPT over the Saudi Arabian desert.
Last edited by Ocn Vw 1K; Apr 4, 2015 at 10:51 am Reason: Excessively-sized embedded graphics.
#28
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: South Wales, UK
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 693
What's the most amazing thing you've seen from a plane
flying IAH to TPA and flying along a three hundred mile line of thunderstorms that had grounded everything in it's northward path.
Lightning rates at about ten strikes a second for over an hour was a memorable first experience of flying above a storm.
Lightning rates at about ten strikes a second for over an hour was a memorable first experience of flying above a storm.
#30
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
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Posts: 33,857
New York City on a clear night during an approach to LGA is also a really good one.