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Red Bull stunt pilot Dario Costa has pulled off what organizers described as a first in aviation history in Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye, touching down on a moving freight train and taking off again from the same spot in under a minute.
The challenge, called Train Landing, hinged on replacing a fixed runway with a platform racing along rails. Costa flew a Zivko Edge 540 aerobatic aircraft onto the last car of a nine-wagon cargo train traveling at 120 km/h, then lifted off from that same wagon moments later, completing the landing-and-takeoff sequence in about 50 seconds.
Organizers said the run left almost no margin for error because a failed attempt would have required resetting train operations for roughly 1 to 1.5 hours, effectively turning the mission into a narrow, single-window operation.
The landing was designed to be “blind” in the final seconds, with the target wagon only becoming visible from Costa’s cockpit late in the approach. During the final segment, the train could reportedly be kept in view at a 45-degree angle until about 200 meters before the last blind approach, after which alignment depended on precise timing and control.
At touchdown, all three wheels reportedly contacted the wagon simultaneously. Despite strong turbulence from airflow around the moving train and a sharp drop in airspeed from 120 km/h to 87 km/h (near minimum operating speed for the maneuver), the aircraft maintained both longitudinal and lateral alignment, with Costa making constant aerodynamic corrections to keep the plane settled on the moving surface.
After stabilizing the aircraft on the wagon, Costa accelerated in a controlled way and transitioned immediately into a steep vertical climb from the same train car.
The sequence concluded what was described as the world’s first successful landing and takeoff performed on a moving train.
Reflecting on the attempt, Costa said the project was among the most demanding and precision-driven of his career, emphasizing the number of variables that had to be measured and managed, and calling the “nearly blind” landing onto a small, moving target the biggest test of cognitive focus and flying skills.
“Train Landing was one of the toughest, most high-precision projects I have ever been involved in… the biggest test was being able to carry out an almost blind landing on an extremely small and moving runway… With this project, for the first time in history, an aircraft successfully interacted with a moving train, bringing together one of the oldest motorized transport vehicles and the newest,” Costa said.
Filippo Barbero, the technician working with Costa on the project, said months of feasibility work went into making the first-of-its-kind attempt possible, and pointed to alignment with the moving train as the most critical factor, describing Costa as uniquely capable of executing such a difficult plan.
To help with height awareness during the final moments, project engineer Petr Frantis is credited with integrating a laser altimeter system that provided a precise height reference and sent audio cues to Costa through his headset, supporting the approach when visibility of the wagon was heavily constrained.
According to media sources, grew out of Costa’s connection with Türkiye after the Tunnel Pass project, when he visited the country to assess new flight concepts and drew inspiration from a nostalgic passenger train he saw in Kars. Following detailed analysis and fieldwork, Afyonkarahisar was selected for its geography, railway infrastructure, and operational conditions.
The project was carried out with support cited from the Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, the Afyonkarahisar Governor’s Office, the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) General Directorate, and TCDD Tasimacilik AS. Preparations reportedly began in the final months of 2024, including tailored simulations and controlled tests.
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