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Moment skydivers fly through Tower Bridge at 152mph in world first

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3 months ago

May 12, 2024

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Moment skydivers fly through Tower Bridge at 152mph in world first

THIS is the breathtaking moment skydivers fly through Tower Bridge at 152mph, in an extraordinary world first.

Austrian Red Bull skydivers Marco Furst, 33, and Marco Waltenspiel, 39, jumped from a helicopter at 3,000 feet high on Sunday morning, diving down to 115 feet above the River Thames.

Wingsuit flying allows jumpers to glide horizontally at high speeds before landing safely on the groundCredit: Dominik Angerer / Red Bull Content Pool

Marco Fuerst and Marco Waltenspiel celebrate their achievement in front of the iconic London landmarkCredit: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool

From take-off to landing, the wingsuit flight lasted 45 secondsCredit: Alex Grymanis / Red Bull Content Pool

The Austrian pair set off on their daredevil adventureCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk

The daredevils reached a top speed of 152mphCredit: Red Bull

Their stunt ensured they got a fantastic view of LondonCredit: Red Bull

They soared through Tower Bridge and completed a complex manoeuvre known as a ‘flare,’ to rise up again to 262 feet, the height required to open their parachutes before landing safely.

From take-off to landing, the wingsuit flight lasted 45 seconds, covering a distance of 1.2 kilometres and reaching a top speed of 152mph.

Mr Furst said: “It was incredible, a dream come true for sure.”

“It was intense from the beginning – we took off on the helicopter 20 minutes before and then we flew into London, the sunrise was amazing, the city looked so good,” Waltenspiel added.

“We approached the bridge and then we were in the zone and we went for it.”

Wingsuit flying allows jumpers to glide horizontally at high speeds before landing safely on the ground using a parachute.

The pair did more than 200 practice jumps for the challenge and underwent training at a ground in Oxfordshire, which featured two cranes to mimic the dimensions of the Tower Bridge.

The pair said they were nervous but focused before the jump.

“We had to get up at 3am, so we had four to five hours of sleep, so for me to go to bed was actually a bit difficult because you feel the excitement the day before,” Mr Furst said.

“Once we were in the helicopter, we prepared everything and we both knew, OK now it’s time to shine, right, and everything was calm and it was really cool to do the jump.”

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“If it’s something that you really want and you work for such a long time to do it, to do it good, to do it safe, it’s incredible,” Mr Waltenspiel added.

“We are super happy, super stoked, everything went well and everyone is happy,” he said after the jump.

Mr Furst said: “I just feel amazing. The jump was beautiful and everything worked out really good.

“I really enjoyed the journey and I’m really grateful to work with Marco and such a good team to bring our dream to life.”

The two men are part of the Red Bull Skydive Team and have completed more than 22,000 jumps between them in places like Croatia‘s heart-shaped island Galesnjak and downhill ski run The Streif in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Explaining his favourite aspect of skydiving, Mr Furst said: “For me personally, it’s the freedom, because if you jump out of a helicopter, you can basically do what you want – you can fly to the left, to the right, up, down – so it’s pure freedom for me.”

Red Bull’s craziest stunts

In 2012, Red Bull organised the highest sky dive ever, where the Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped 24 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Kriss Kyle, a professional BMX rider, decided to take Red Bull up on a challenge in April 2023 which involved riding his bike while suspended over the West Country, in a hot air balloon at over 2,000 feet above ground.

Austrian skydiver Paul Steiner was filmed climbing out of the cockpit of a glider in April 2010, shimmying along the wing, leaning forward and somersaulting off the edge to grab a pair of handles, where he patiently hangs until a second glider rolls up beneath him and he drops down onto it.

To mark 2008’s New Year’s Eve celebrations Australian daredevil motorcyclist Robbie Maddison leapt 96 feet onto the top of the Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas.