Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy flew across the Grand Canyon on his custom-made jet suit, marking a watershed in man's ever-elusive dream of flying like birds.

The 51-year-old former Swiss fighter pilot took eight minutes to achieve the spectacular feat after strapping on his wings and sliding onto thin air from a helicopter, at a height of 8,000 feet. He eased down in the air several thousand feet before firing his jet suit and fly across the Grand Canyon. His 'human' flight then took eight minutes to cover the five-mile radius, making him the first man to do so.

Rossy, who has already flown across the English Channel and the Lake Geneva, flew at a height of 200 feet above earth at speeds of up to 190 mile per hour. At the end of his flight he opened his parachute and landed safely on the ground.

Rossy, who is known as the 'jetman', had to abort a previous attempt to fly across the Grand Canyon as a federal approval came late in the day. He received the approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just 30 minutes before the scheduled flight on Friday.

His custom-built jet suit, equipped with a Jet-Cat P200 engine, had a weight of 120 pounds and a wing span of 79 inches. It was capable of climbing 360 yards per minute. The fuel used in the jet suit was a mix of kerosene and turbine oil for lubrication.

Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration