Stunning photos taken from the cockpit of an airliner

These beautiful photos were taken by pilot Christian van Heist from the Netherlands and his friend Daan Krans. They founded the Amazing Aviation company, which specializes in creating photos from the cockpit. These pictures are a selection of the best from their portfolio. They were made during flights over different cities and countries, starting with Toronto and ending with India and China.

"When you encounter such a riot of nature during a flight, you immediately begin to feel so small, so insignificant compared to this wild raging energy," says Christian.

This photo was taken during a flight between Beijing and Shanghai. It shows a cloud illuminated by lightning.

"Our instruments detected this cloud just a few minutes before the picture was taken. When we got a little closer, we had to deviate from the course by 10 kilometers, because beauty is beauty, and the cloud still posed a considerable danger to the plane," Christian said.

This photo was taken in the sky over Canada during a flight from Chicago to Amsterdam. Christian and his colleague Luka had to face a terrible thunderstorm, and after that the Northern lights became the real cherry on the cake.

"It is a great honor for me to create such amazing photos and put them on public display, giving everyone the opportunity to see this beauty," Christian admitted.

"The beautiful northern lights in the sky over Canada, which is also illuminated from below by several thunderstorms with lightning, is one of the most beautiful pictures I have seen in my life," Christian shared.

This is how the Milky Way looks from the cockpit of an airplane flying over the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt).

And this photo was taken from the cockpit of a Boeing 747 cargo plane flying over the territory of India.

Christian started studying to be a pilot at the age of 14. "From the very beginning of my career, I was firmly convinced that I just needed to capture the unique atmosphere of the beautiful views that I observe from the cockpit," he says.

"Trying to create a good photo often looks like hard and thankless work, but I still try to make great pictures for my audience in order to accurately convey the feelings that I myself experience when I am in flight," Christian added.

"My colleagues support me, because now they also have the opportunity to show their relatives and friends all the beauty that we observe daily from our workplaces."