16 February 2026
Landing an aircraft on a moving train. It’s the sort of stunt that silent movie star Buster Keaton might have pulled off, or Tom Cruise in a Mission Impossible chase, after many, many rehearsals. But for Italian pilot Dario Costa it was yet another of his seemingly crazy Red Bull ideas.
It took place yesterday, Sunday 15 February, in Afyonkarahisar, Türkey. Dario landed his Red Bull air race aircraft, a Zivko Edge 540, on a moving cargo train… and then lifted off again in a near vertical pull-up.
Dario Costa landing on a moving train. Photos: Red Bull
Wait, I can hear you saying, the Edge 540 is a mid-wing high-speed aerobatic aircraft. How could he see the train carriage?
The answer: he couldn’t. It was a blind landing on the final carriage of the cargo train, with the train travelling at its maximum speed of 65 knots. Dario approached the train at an angle of 45 degrees before committing to lining up and flying blind the final 200 metres. Oh, and at a speed of just 47 knots, the minimum speed at which he had any control. The normal landing approach speed of the Edge 540 is 80 knots.
What’s more, it all had to be completed in a 50 second window.
Of course, it wasn’t just flown on a whim. According to Red Bull, the project followed months of engineering analysis simulation work, flight preparation and safety protocols, combining synchronised speed matching, aerodynamic control, cognitive training, and millimetre-accurate timing.
The aircraft was standard apart from two custom strakes under the tail designed and six small vortex generators on the wing. They would have added some extra stability and low speed lift… but even so. Dario Costa you’re up there with Keaton and Cruise.
