Watch: In 'world's first', pilot lands plane on Dubai's Burj Al Arab helipad
Czepiela is a former Red Bull Air Race Challenger Class World Champion and an Airbus A320 captain.
Dubbed as a 'world's first', a Polish pilot and aerobat Luke Czepiela has successfully landed his specially modified aircraft on the 27-metre-wide helipad of Dubai's Burj Al Arab hotel. Czepiela, who performed the heart-stopping stunt, had been preparing for it for two years.
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Red Bull Motorsports shared the heart-stopping video on Instagram where the aircraft can be seen approaching the helipad- 212 meters high- on the 56th floor of the iconic Burj Al Arab. The pilot managed to land the aircraft successfully after an initial scare.
Dubai Media Office also published pictures of the flight and landing, and said Czepiela "completed over 650 practice landings before the attempt".
"That’s what we call a BULLSEYE 🤯🛬👏 Another legendary Burj Al Arab feat in the books, courtesy of @luke.czepiela and a whole lot of commitment, preparation and ingenuity 🔥", the caption read. The video has garnered the netizens attention with over 3 million views and over 1.7 lakh likes.
Czepiela, 39, is a former Red Bull Air Race Challenger Class World Champion and an Airbus A320 captain. The pilot described the Burj Al Arab landing as the most challenging feat he has ever accomplished. He admitted that despite the rigorous preparations, the landing at this height was an entirely an adventurous experience, as there were no clear points of reference, and any errors or mistakes could have been proved fatal.
"Landing at the height of 200 metres, with no clear points of reference, is completely different from landing on the ground … I had to fully trust my own skills. On the helipad, there was no room for mistakes," Czepiela said in an article on Red Bull's website.
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The Burj Al Arab's helipad has witnessed many jaw-dropping stunts before, including a tennis match between Roger Federer and Andre Agassi in 2005, a donut performance by Formula One driver David Coulthard in 2013, and a bike jump by BMX rider Kriss Kyle in 2019.