Solutions

The Extra 330SR and Edge 540T aircraft were piloted by two pilots competing in the Red Bull Air Race series – Łukasz Czepiela and Martin Šonka. On May 2nd, in the early morning hours, the pilots approaching from the Siekierkowski Bridge lowered their flight altitude to just three meters above water level and flew under the Poniatowski Bridge, the Średnicowy Railway Bridge and the Świętokrzyski Bridge. With the so-called tracers switched on, the aircraft left a white and red smoke flag along the riverbed. Finally, after passing the last of the bridges, the pilots took their aircraft up into the air, performing a half-loop and a half-barrel. Preparations for these incredible 16 seconds of flight had been ongoing since September 2016. A very important element of the work was the planning and analysis of data by the heroes and co-creators of the project – Łukasz Czepiela and Martin Šonka. Such a complex idea required enormous concentration of the agency and the project organizer on the smallest details of implementation. The consultation and approval phase itself involved numerous city and state institutions. One of the key stages of the work was pilot training, organized at the Częstochowa-Rudniki airport. Flying under models, 1:1 representing the layout of three Warsaw bridges, gave us the certainty that the project was feasible and safe. During the implementation itself, pedestrian, vehicle and rail traffic on the bridges was suspended, and access to the Vistula was limited to outsiders on both sides of the river for a total distance of about 3 km. Thanks to meticulous preparations and precise implementation, we created a spectacular event that has been talked about for years.