Marco Fürst (33) from Bregenz and Marco Waltenspiel (39) from Oberndorf/Salzburg zipped through with wingsuits between the road and the historic pedestrian bridge high above at 5:23 a.m. London time (06:23 CEST).
The daring action went almost perfectly according to plan: Waltenspiel landed on a pontoon in the river as planned; Fürst narrowly missed the target and had to splash out, but was immediately “rescued”. Everything was prepared for this: The option had been trained – “and as a precaution we wore wetsuits under the wingsuits,” he grinned in an interview with the APA and the Kronen Zeitung after the action. Postscript: “The water temperature of the Thames was actually mega fine.”
Image gallery: Two Austro skydivers flew through London’s Tower Bridge
(Foto: JOERG MITTER / RED BULL CONTENT) Bild 1/13
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Meticulously planned
The Red Bull Skydivers’ action was meticulously planned and coordinated with the responsible authorities in the British capital. Traffic over the bridge was closed for a short time and flight movements at the three airports in the London area were controlled accordingly.
Fürst and Waltenspiel jumped out of a Jet Ranger 206 helicopter at 5:22 a.m. local time at a height of 914 meters. After 30 seconds of flight, the athletes passed the bridge at 246 km/h, specifically: the 65 by 32 meter “window” between the top edge of the railing and the pedestrian crossing above and between the two bridge pillars on the right and left. The landing took place 15 seconds later after a flight of 1,200 meters.
Bild: ALEX GRYMANIS / RED BULL CONTENT
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Bild: ALEX GRYMANIS / RED BULL CONTENT
Getting through the bridge without any problems at that speed was of course challenge number 1 – which we achieved perfectly. But this was immediately followed by the second delicate phase of the company: Normally, wingsuit flyers simply land using a parachute, which they deploy at a suitable height above the ground. To do this, the two athletes had to climb back up after crossing the bridge, otherwise they would not have reached the minimum height of 80 meters required to deploy the parachute. This maneuver, known in technical jargon as a “flare”, also succeeded without any problems – with the small final deviation from the plan of Marco Fürst’s “splashdown”.
Marco Waltenspiel said about the adrenaline rush with a slight understatement: “The first hour after the jump was very intense.” And Fürst added: “A burden has definitely been lifted from us now. We had an incredible preparation period over two years.” The two completed 200 special training jumps for the Tower Bridge project alone. Conclusion: “Of course the action here in London was a highlight in our career.”