Professional race and stunt pilot Dario Costa has shocked the world by flying an aeroplane through two road tunnels in Turkey’s Northern Marmara Highway.
Professional race and stunt pilot Dario Costa has shocked the world by flying an aeroplane through two road tunnels in Turkey’s Northern Marmara Highway. While taking to social media, Energy drink company Red Bull shared the video, which showed the pilot flying his modified Zivko Edge 540 aerobatic monoplane flat-out through Catalca Mevki Tunnels and out the other side. Italy’s Costa sped through two tunnels at average speeds of 245kph, setting a Guinness World Record.
According to a redbull blog, Costa said, “Everything seemed to be happening so fast, but when I got out of the first tunnel, the plane started to move to the right because of the crosswinds, and in my head, everything slowed down in that moment. I reacted and just focused on getting the plane back on the right path to enter the other tunnel. Then in my mind, everything sped up all over again.”
He added, “I’d never flown in a tunnel in my life – nobody had ever done it – so there was a big question mark in my head whether everything would go as we expected. It was a big relief, of course, but big, big happiness was the main emotion. For me, it’s another dream come true.”
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‘This is epic’
During his flight, the Italian pilot was surrounded by the concrete arc of the walls. He cleared the dual tunnels in less than 44 seconds. Costa took off within the first tunnel, maintaining an altitude of less than one metre with solid concrete on all sides. He then flew out of this 360-metre tunnel and into a second one 360 metres away which he achieved perfectly despite a cross-wind.
The stunt pilot flew through the 1,160-metre tunnel at an average speed of 245km/h. He celebrated by completing a 360-degree loop. His Tunnel Pass flight was recognised with a Guinness World Record for Longest Tunnel Flown through with an Aeroplane (1,610m).
Meanwhile, Red Bull shared the post on September 4. Since being posted, it has been viewed over 3.1 lakh times. While one user wrote, “I hope people understand just how insanely hard this actually is,” another added, “Wow, that’s some sick flying skills”.
