Landing a plane is always challenging, but imagine having to touch down on a small, moving runway that you can’t really see from the plane! These types of conditions are exactly what make Italian airplane pilot Dario Costa’s daring feat of landing his Zivko Edge 540 aircraft on the last cart of a moving train so impressive.
“Train Landing was one of the most challenging and demanding projects of my career,” Costa said. “There were so many variables to measure, but the greatest test was learning to land blind on a very small moving runway – relying only on cognitive and flying skills.”
Pulling off such a dangerous maneuver required not just perfect reflexes and nerves of steel, but years of planning and training. Dario Costa and his team started preparing in 2024, creating simulations and conducting controlled tests to replicate the complex landing dynamics. Because rehearsals on moving trains were impossible, advanced simulation technologies and controlled ground-based rehearsals were crucial to the success of the project. But in the end, it was in Dario’s hands.
“The most critical aspect was the alignment with the train, so precision had to be absolute, and he achieved that,” Filippo Barbero, the project’s aviation consultant, told Red Bull. “During a project like this, there’s no room for emotions – Dario is a true magician.”
To become the first pilot to land on a moving train, Dario essentially had to pull off a blind landing. Because of the aircraft’s angle of descent and the train’s forward motion at 120 kilometers per hour (75mph), he literally could not see the small runway set up on the last train cart and relied solely on his cognitive training and instincts to touch down.
As if the moving train and short runway weren’t enough, Dario Costa also had to deal with heavy turbulence from the train and shifting air speeds. He managed to handle everything perfectly and set the plane down on the train’s last cart, before taking to the sky again in a vertical pull take-off.
