What is/are the most incredible sight(s) you have seen from an aircraft?

Mine:
The River Nile seen in the early morning travelling from JNB to CAI from a MS 767. The dark green of the cultivation contrasting with the salmon pink of the surrounding desert at sunrise.
Mount Kilimanjaro on a flight from JNB to NBO from an SA A300. Normally Kilimanjaro is visible on the right hand side of the aircraft but on this occasion, the captain flew directly over the top of the mountain and banked the aircraft to give a stupendous view of the snow covered summit.
Mount Fuji shining in the morning sun shortly after take-off from NRT on a JL 747-400D bound for OSA.
The City of London seen multiple times from the right hand side of the aircraft inbound on a westerly heading into LHR.
Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula from a BA 747-400. The captain obtained permission from ATC to fly past Table Mountain and then along the peninsular to Cape Point before setting course for JNB.
The view of Hudson Bay and the artic tundra viewed from a BA 747-400 en route from LHR to LAX.
The snow-covered peaks of the Alps on a number of flights
The Sun rising in the West viewed from Concorde having caught it up after it had set in the West at LHR.

What are yours?

The first one that comes to mind is the Winslow meteor crater. Being in a plane definitely gives proper perspective to see what it is.

good question. a few highlights

Mt St Helens, quite close up on a SEA-PDX flight (on a UA Saab 340!)
Deserts and canyons of Oman/Arabia en route to DXB
City of London close up after taking off from LCY
Manhattan skyline both in the sun and glowing at night after LGA or EWR takeoffs

Alaskan Glaciers
The Swiss Alps
New York City
Greenland and the surrounding Icebergs
Mt. Rainier

Yosemite National Park just as we left our cruise altitude inbound for SFO on a transcon
The Chicago Loop on approach into ORD
Midtown and Downtown Manhattan on approach/departure into/out of LGA
The 25th of April Bridge and the Estadio da Luz on approach into LIS (seated on the left)
The entirety of Stockholm's Old Town with all its small islands and the Royal Palace on a particularly scenic routing into ARN inbound from the south

The majority of the Hawaiian islands on a flight from LIH to KOA.

Several in the Pacific Northwest seen on various flights between SMF and PDX and SEA:
Crater Lake
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. Rainer
The mouth of the Columbia River

The Grand Canyon. A couple of years ago, our DTW-LAX flew a different route so that we crossed the eastern end of it and could look down the length of it.
As other have mentioned, London when coming in from the east.
The southern tip of Greenland on a GLA-EWR flight.

Over the years I have seen quite a few spectacular things, some of them that I remember particularly well are:

The Volcanoes on Approach to Petropavlovksk-Kamchatskiy on the Russian Pacific Coast (SU SVO-PKC 77W)
Uluru on approach to AYQ (QF ASP-AYQ B717)
Sydney Harbour when approaching from the North (CA PEK-SYD 77W)
The Summits of the Himalayas when flying along the range from Nepal to Delhi (KTM-DEL AI 320)
Victoria Falls and Kilimanjaro on my flights to the Falls in 2017 with Kenya Airways (KQ NBO-VFA-NBO E190)
A day back in 2015 when I flew from Buenos Aires to the Atacama desert when I saw both Aconcagua and the snow-capped Andes and the stunning peaks of the Atacama on a perfect day after a massive earthquake in Chile earlier that week and a strike that nearly ruined my trip (AEP-SCL AR E190, SCL-CJC LA A320)

And then there are some classics that never get old:

NYC
London when arriving into Heathrow from the east
Greenland and the Swiss Alps on a good day

Sorry it turned out to be so many great sights in the end! But there's nothing I love more than a window seat on a sunny day where I can look down for hours.

Flying Cathay Pacific from DEL-HKG and seeing the Himalayan range in the distance pretty much at eye level. Didn't have to look down.

2009, final to AMS - for some reason I never flew into Amsterdam in April before. I was used to see it in the autumn or winter. Virtually every field was covered with tulips or other flowers, one white field, one orange field, one pink field.. Googled for a pic, it looks something like this.

Great topic.

Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood on flights in and out of PDX/SEA.
Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor inbound to HNL.
Manhattan inbound flights to EWR/LGA.
Golden Gate Bridge outbound from SFO.
Swiss Alps inbound to MXP.
Seeing the entire Florida Peninsula over PBI on weather reroute for weather over Gulf inbound to RSW.
Everything Washington D.C. inbound to DCA on approach to Runway 19.
Huge flooding from Hurricane Harvey 12 days after inbound to IAH from SFO.
Bolivar Peninsula completely destroyed during Hurricane Ike outbound from IAH to RSW.

The reflection in the window......

On a serious note, when I was traveling to India (from the UK) last year I looked out the left hand side of the plane and saw some dusty yellow mountains with some little tracks going through them, I remember thinking to myself that looks like a pretty horrific place to try and survive, I wasn't even close! A quick look at the map showed it was 'Tora Bora'.

Fred

1) My very first flight ever: December, 1974, BFL-LAX on a UA 727-100. We entered the plane via the rear air-stairs, and on this very foggy early morning, we somehow took off on time. I had the window seat, and I remember to this day that realizing that fog, when seen from above, is just clouds on the ground.

2) It was many years later when I was able to take my next plane trip, but ironically enough, it was also a United 727-100. I had a window seat in coach on the right, directly behind the forward galley. Flying SBA-BFL (in the days of United flying SFO-BFL-SBA-SFO and SFO-SBA-BFL-SFO), I was curious what our routing would be (given the mountain range separating the cities), but it was almost a straight line, and we ended up flying almost directly over the house of a wonderful family friend who lived in the tiny town of Maricopa. She didn't know if she saw the flight, but she might have, and we got a kick out of that!!

3) Flying BFL-DFW for a family funeral in Arkansas, dad and I followed Interstate 40 from Barstow to Amarillo, where we turned towards landing at DFW. We spent a lot of summers driving that highway, and two days of driving was condensed into two hours. We wanted to believe the pilots did it for our benefit...

4) Window seat across from a flight attendant on a United DC-10 arriving at HNL. We hugged the northern coastline, and circled around the west side of the island, with O'ahu entirely visible while landing on the reef runway. I recalled reading from a travel guide, "more and more people are stepping forward to say that O'ahu is their favorite island". It hasn't been repeated in my many trips since, but I keep hoping!!

5) A re-routing story: January, 2002, barely four months since 9/11. My SAN-PIT-ATL red-eye routing was canceled last minute, so I was re-routed to Continental SAN-EWR-ATL. The connecting flight to Atlanta had me in a window seat on the right, and take-offs that day were on the 4's. As we were rolling down the runway, I realized, "oh, my, God - we're going to fly right by the World Trade Center site!" And we did. I was completely unprepared for the sight - and I cried.



A couple of pictures of me at age 21 in 1987. Many years and many pounds ago...

6) SAN-SLC. I had visited Boulder Dam many times (family in Las Vegas), but seeing it from the air was unbelievable. I have since seen it on approach to LAS, but the SAN-SLC flight flew at a low enough altitude that it was more like an "it's-a-really-clear-day-let's-give-the-pax-a-treat!" kind of experience.

7) July, 2004, MSP-PHX. On approach to one of the 26's, a forest fire that had been burning for several days was visible out the left side of the aircraft. There were a LOT of gasps from everyone, and the heat waves announced themselves with mild but detectable turbulence, which lasted almost to landing.

8) Every flight I have ever been on HNL-ITO. It simply doesn't get any more amazing than see six of the eight islands in one thirty-minute flight, followed by the incredible views that come when circling around Mauna Kea. This one never fails to drop jaws!!

9) All of far-too-few-and-gone-too-long dream route flights SAN-BFL. Both ways, one overflies LAX almost directly overhead, and seeing this sea-of-humanity from above is amazing. I also saw one of the many raging fires we have had from the air on a BFL-SAN as well.

10) April, 2009, FLL-IAH. A seating change for a family took us from two aisle seats to a center and window ended up giving me a view of the Mississippi River flowing into the Gulf of Mexico:



Funny story: the IAH-SAN flight started its take-off roll like a drag race. CO pilots were known for not wasting time, and our taxiing turned into a take-off roll the minute the 180 degree turn from the taxiway was finished. It was so quick, the "exit" sign one row in front of me popped off and landed at my feet. I had my companion take this picture of me picking it up and giving a bemused look:



Best part of the story: when a flight attendant came was able to come through, I handed this to her. Without blinking an eye, she said, "oh". Turned around, held it in place, gave a good, solid, WHACK to snap it into place, and kept on going. What else could you do but laugh?

11) ZRH-SAN, July, 2017: Take-off and overflying the mind-numbingly beautiful lakes of Switzerland was unreal.



We overflew Greenland, but it was covered in clouds. Canada, on the other hand, wasn't camera shy at all, showing off Hudson Bay and its ice to perfection:



And the almost-perfect curve of Lake Winnipeg was incredible!



Thanks for reading - I hope you enjoyed!!

Mt Rainier from all sides depending on whether we were arriving or departing SEA - a sight I never tire of.
Mt St Helens while it was experiencing a minor eruption
Denali, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Glacier Bay all on the same flight on a crystal clear, golden-lit late winter afternoon. My best memory of great in-flight views
Half Dome, El Capitan and the rest of Yosemite while on approach to FAT
Mt St Helens from directly above it while riding in a C-141 out of McChord AFB - thanks to an employer appreciation day they had a long time ago. One of my employees was in the Air Force Reserves at the time.
On the same flight, went up to to cockpit and Mt. Adams was directly in front of us and filled pretty much the entire windshield. Cool stuff for a mountain lover like me.

The Northern Lights, on a BOO-TOS flight.

PSAatSAN, thanks for sharing those pictures. I too was on the roof of 1 World Trade Center at the age of 21 in 1987! Sadly, I can't find any of the pics I took that day. I really enjoyed yours.

As for favorite sights...
Half Dome at Yosemite flying DFW to SFO.
The snow covered Swiss Alps in early spring on MXP-FRA
Overflying BCN on the way from IAD to FCO just as the sun was rising over the Mediterranean and the lights of Barcelona were still on.
The approach into LIS over Estoril then looping back up over the Tagus.
View of Hong Kong harbour and buildings on a departure out of HKG flying East.
Mt. Aconcagua this year flying EZE-SCL. Glad I picked a right hand window seat for that flight.

I'm mostly an aisle sitter, but obviously if I think there's something really cool to watch, I'll reserve a window seat.

Burj Khalifa - EK DXB-BKK
Denali/Mt. McKinley - several times while flying YYZ-ANC-SEL v.v. on KE back in the 90's
Mt. Fuji - JL HND-FUK
The Arctic - CX YYZ-HKG
The Alps on several flights
Central London while approaching LHR 27s
Manhattan while approaching LGA
Approaches to GMP, ITM and FUK that fly rather low over the city
Saudi desert - SQ FCO-SIN
The beach at Phuket Airport (sadly haven't experienced SXM yet)

Not particularly remarkable on a normal day, but one morning when we were approaching MUC on a LH A346, there was rolling fog passing through, skimming the terrain, and it looked quite surreal.
This crappy cellphone pic doesn't do justice. I took it in portrait mode because the window had too many scratches.

Swiss Alps.
Approach to Geneve on a clear winter morning.
Overflying Mont Blanc and Matterhorn.
Approach to Lugano.
Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The white cliffs of dover.
Approach to Split, Croatia.
Thunderstorms at night.

I only have one truly awesome sight, a lot of really good ones, but flying out of SFO-SJC We took off in fog but it was pretty smooth. As we broke through the fog down below and off a mile or so was the golden gate bridge and it was emerging from the fog. Just an un believable sight of beauty. This was back in the late 80's no convenient cell to take a pick and I was doing a weekend trip while stationed at L.A. AFB. Didn't think to bring my camera.

-Ships crossing the Singapore Strait while on approach into SIN at midday.
-Artificial islands off the coast if Jakarta while on approach into CGK.
-BKK being seen from a flight while taking off from DMK
-Doi Suthep seen from a 737-900ER while taking off from CNX in the late evening.
-Hakodate seen from a 777-300 bound from Bangkok during ascent from CTS

I’m more like a sunrise/sunset kind of guy. None of the pictures are edited.

This one is from a departure at ZNZ early in the morning bound for MCT.



I’m surprised no one has mentioned SDU’s departure:



Mother Nature never fails to impress me, like here on this AKL-APW flight.



I don‘t really know what happened here that made it look that way but this sunrise over Mongolia on a TXL-PEK flight was jaw dropping and my personal favourite!




Redeyes crossing the Tasman (or the Pacific in general) usually make for some stunning night skies. It’s hard to photograph those from a plane though.

I could post so much more, like pictures of flights crossing Iran or so many more sunrises or sunsets...

I’ll finish with a (not so nice) picture of my home town because isn’t it the best sight to see your home appearing on the horizon after a long trip?



I hope you enjoyed reading!

Back in 1981 or 1982 we flew LAX-SEA right over Mt. St. Helens. It was still lightly venting here and there. The devastation was incredible.

The other amazing thing was seeing a couple of Phantoms up close. They literally buzzed our flight in the early 2000s SNA-HOU or DFW, I forget which. After taking off, we flew south for bit before heading east, right over Camp Pendleton MCB. I looked out of the windows just in time to see two Marine RF-4Bs on a slightly divergent course pass underneath us no more than two hundred feet away. Seriously, I could see the pilots and NFOs, who had the glare shield on their helmets up or down, the color of their helmets, where their heads were facing, even clearly discern the grey on grey side markings the RF-4Bs were sporting. Were collision avoidance systems installed back then? I have to think they'd have been triggered if they were, the Phantoms were literally that close. The 'ol Phantom was a great plane so it was a thrill to see them in air so close.

As one of those people who always picks a window seat I could probably have a near endless list here...

-NYC at night (even though I live there!)
-Flying over London...usually after an overnight flight from the US
-The Southern Alps of New Zealand on approach in CHC, felt like we were skimming the peaks
-Departing BRC (Bariloche in Argentinian Patagonia) at sunset. The view of the Andes was just incredible

A friend of mine watched the Space Shuttle takeoff from a commercial flight inbound to TPA about 10yrs ago. There are videos online which make me supremely jealous having only watched it from the ground

Then there's:

GUM-MAJ: the view of Majuro and Kwajalein atoll

JKT-SUB: the volcanoes of Java

OKD-HKD: volcanoes of Hokkaido


KUL-BKK: the view of the Petronas tower at night after taking of from KUL

HKG-TPE: view of Taipei 101 while passing over Taipei

3 from the top of my head-

1. The white peaks of the Himalayas within what seemed like touching distance as we descended into Leh Airport in a 737. That was one memorable flight!

2. Departing Zurich for Dusseldorf, we made a sharp turn after departure and were treated to a stunning view of the Alps.

3. Descending into Hong Kong inbound from Hanoi, as we broke free of the clouds, the whole of downtown HK and Victoria harbour was visible. Looked impressive to say the least!

Thanks for all the replies. There are a multitude of sights to be seen from the window of an aircraft which is why I, too, always like a window seat.
Even run of the mill vistas are different when seen from above - the shadow of your aircraft on clouds outlined by a rainbow, the multitude of stars visible from a darkened cabin, sunrise and sunset, the sight of a city new to you on approach and it all comes at no extra cost! Just adds to the magic that is flight!

This was probably my coolest arrival. Mt. Rainier, standing proudly next to the Boeing-themed winglet of N512AS. Doesn't get more Seattle than that.

Departing ATL on a WN B738, saw the airport behind us and the city below us. Early departure, was up at 4:00 AM, and caught the late end of the sunrise. Beautiful.
Saw Oahu and Pearl Harbor arriving at HNL from IAH on a UA B772. The water was beautiful. I saw 3 or 4 C-17s there as well as 3 or 4 KC-135s.
This doesn't count really, but I was at the gate departing HNL waiting to board and I saw 3 HA B712s. They looked amazing, and I could see Diamond Head in the background.

Hawaiian islands when flying to HNL and OGG
Mt Rainier when flying to SEA
Mt Hood and Mt St Helens when flying YVR-LAX
The Strip when flying to LAS
Grand Canyon when flying PHX-YVR
Great Salt Lake when flying to SLC
Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan when flying to ORD
Downtown Austin when landing at AUS
National Mall, Capital, and monuments when landing at DCA
Manhattan at night when flying to LGA
Coastline views: SAN, LAX, SFO, MIA, KEF
Central London when landing at LHR or LCY
Greenland when flying LHR-DFW
Sydney Bridge, Circular Quay, and the Opera House at sunrise when landing at SYD
Mountains and Lakes of South New Zealand when landing at ZQN

The Great Pyramids at 2am when flying from KTW to HRG
Grand Canyon on the way to LAX
Chicago loop by night when flying MKE - STT
Cracow, Berlin, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Prague from the sky (during approach and overflying)
Los Angeles downtown on the way to HNL
Glaciers of Greenland on the way to KRK
Las Vegas by night in flight from LAX to ORD
Tatra Mountains on the way to POZ
Niagara Falls from the helicopter tour
Bahamas Islands on the way to CHS from SJU
Tanks and military transporters around the SKG airport in 2004 during arrival...

paullam wrote:

I’m surprised no one has mentioned SDU’s departure:

Indeed. I was expecting that one.

I flew CGH-SDU a few years ago and it was truly spectacular. Flying from Congonhas and surrounded by those residential towers as far as the eye can see is really weird. And then landing in SDU it feels like the plane is "zig-zagging" among those "morros". Really recommended flight for spectacular views. Specially considering it is literally flown dozens of times a day with multiple carriers (Sao Paulo-Rio), so it can't be easier to hop on that one.

Many times, i've seen home from the air:
- When living in Edinburgh. Approach from the east above the first or forth were my favs as Granton area visible.
- Now in Montpellier (mpl) only rare landings from the North allows this beautiful sight

On the approach into Sukhothai airport (THS) you pass over a heart shaped lake with a heart shaped island....

https://www.thailandfromabove.com/sukhothai/holy-heart-land/

Natural sights include the Grand Canyon, the Rockies, Niagara Falls, and the Alps, as well as watching a thunderstorm in the distance one late afternoon as it was getting dark. I've also enjoyed some extra long sunsets flying west.

But for me nothing tops the landing approaches to home: New York City. I recall one time circling over lower Manhattan in a Shorts prop plane which was great since it was a relatively slow plane, and the late afternoon sun made the skyline glow. Many evenings flying over the city on approach to LGA, and thanking my lucky stars for sitting on the right (or left) side of the plane, one time I could even see the round skylight of the Guggenheim Museum. Flying into JFK from the west is a different experience because you fly over Manhattan several thousand feet higher--the glow of the city is incredible, with the brightest spot being Times Square. The contrast of the outline of the island surrounded by the blackness of the water is striking.

Approach to Kai Tak (HKG) at night.
Approach to LGA and EWR for Manhattan.
Approach to CPT for Table mountain.
Takeoff from ANC for Alaska Range.
PK NRT-PEK-ISB: Great view of Taklamakan Desert and Karakoram mountain range.
NH & JL(NU) OKA-ISG, UA Island hopper, TY GEA-UVE: Beautiful coral.
NZ domestic flight: Magnificent scenery of South Island in New Zealand.
Flight within Ireland: Love to see Emerald Isle fields.
Westbound domestic flight in Japan from TYO: Mt.Fuji.

My top experiences:

Mt Fuji (Singapore Airlines A380 SIN-NRT)

Central London (Finnair A350 HEL-LHR)

Seeing several isolated Siberian towns out the window of a CX 777 whilst flying JFK-HKG.

Mountains of New Zealand flying out of Christchurch.

Not sure if this counts, but seeing Lake Eyre from a dedicated scenic flight back in July was pretty special.

A few times now I’ve seen a full rainbow (circle not an arc).
Everest
The city of Pyongyang
A bottle of Dom Perignon on my tray table

Greenland on an EK 380 from DXB to JFK
Takeoff & landing at Gibraltar / Kai Tak HKG

At FL190 eastbound in a Metroliner over Louisiana before sunrise the space shuttle was entering the atmosphere passing over the top of us trailing what appeared to be sparks and heavy smoke.
At FL510 in a Learjet 25D during the day looking at condensation trails well below us, the sky was a very dark blue with a definite curvature of the earth and a few stars became visible.

The firsy things that come to mind are the Alps and Himalayas which are always beautiful, especially during winter. There are countless other parts of the world I've been lucky enough to witness, but here I'll just focus on the ones I can share with you through my pictures.

I was lucky enough to catch one of the very best ones on camera, the approach into 27L at Heathrow is always nice but this one was extra special due to the pure winter sunlight and turn at the exact right moment. Early morning longhaul arrivals around dawn when the city is waking up are always wonderful as well. Here's the arrival I was describing:


Greenland never fails (unless it's cloudy! ):


Few things beat a beautiful sunrise across the French Riviera:


My favorite though has to be a perfect dusk approach into JNB in March, seeing a city thousands of miles from home light up under a beautiful deep red sunset was truly amazing:

SRQKEF wrote:

.

I almost forgot this literally picture perfect winter sunset on the 2nd shortest day of the year!

I have seen a few memorable sights in my flying memories.

Flying over ground zero on a EWR-DEN flight.
Seeing the great lakes ore freighters on a EWR-MSP flight. On that same flight, I flew over Lambeu Field.
Spotting Bailey Railyard at LBF while flying ORD-DEN.
Flying over Greenland, and on the same DEN-LHR flight, seeing strong thunderstorms with a fantastic light show over the Nebraska sandhills.
The night lights of the Front Range of Colorado on a night flight from DEN (Stapleton)-FNL.

1. Flying over Afghanistan on an SAS 767 from Copenhagen to Dehli, just at sunrise the start of the Himalayas come into view growing out of the Afghan plain, they seemed high enough to reach out and touch.
2. Somewhere over Greenland on an AC Tristar from YVR to LHR, around midnight local time we spend an hour or so flying through bright green Aurora Borealis.
3. Somewhere over central Africa on a SAA 744, bushfires in the dark extending for miles.
4. Flying over Mt St Helens on an AC E190 to LAX, I had never realized until I saw it that the blasted open side of the mountain faced towards the North, which would explain how I was able to hear the bang so clearly several hundred kilometres away.
Whywhyjay?

The Air Canada run from Hartford to Toronto. Clear fall days a beautiful flyover of Niagra Falls.

On very clear nights any flight from any destination on the East Coast into BDL. The flyover of New York City and the CT shore with the left turn at New Haven where the decent starts. Tons of lights with all the cities blending together. On super clear evenings as your plane is on final into BDL, you can look back and still see the lights of New York with everything in between lined right up. Very cool.

You get a good view of Kuwait Towers on approach to one of KWI's 2 runaways (the approach from the north).

Grand Teton mountain range.
The Loop (Canyonlands National Park) from GA aircraft.

My overnight case standing by itself in the jetway as we pushed back in the MD80 I flew for four years as a First Officer ‘that looks familiar I thought’


We’d been in such a rush to leave I had neglected to place it in the cockpit

We quickly returned to the gate, opened the door and I retrieved it


We had a good laugh about it later