Yves "Jetman" Rossy flies over the Grand Canyon in his custom-made jet suit, at speeds of up to 190 mph.

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he video: Swiss daredevil Yves "Jetman" Rossy, 51, flew over the Grand Canyon on Saturday, in a custom-made jet suit that propelled him at speeds of up to 190 mph. (See a video below.) Rossy "has rocketed over the English Channel and Swiss Alps" before, but this was "his first such flight in the U.S.," reports the Associated Press. The "dashing birdman" launched himself from a helicopter and stayed aloft for more than eight minutes before deploying a parachute and landing on the canyon floor.
The reaction: "It was a feat that would have made Buzz Lightyear proud...or extremely envious," says the Daily Mail. "It was a spectacle, to be sure," says Daniel B. Wood in the Christian Science Monitor. The question is whether this was "a publicity-seeking stunt" or a genuine "quest to expand the limits of human endeavor." Either way, the four-engine jet pack he used is quite special, says MSNBC. The FAA "went back and forth" with Rossy's team over whether it "should be classified as an airplane or a power glider" — and "ultimately grouped it with airplanes." Watch a video of Rossy's flight: