Tower Bridge: Skydivers complete wingsuit flight

By Liz Jackson & PA Media for BBC

Two professional skydivers have completed the first wingsuit flight through Tower Bridge, saying it was a “dream come true”.

Red Bull skydivers Marco Fürst, 33, and Marco Waltenspiel, 39, leapt from a helicopter hovering at 3,000ft (914m) above London on Sunday morning.

During the flight the pair went through Tower Bridge, reaching speeds of up to 153mph (246km/h), and completed a complex manoeuvre known as a “flare”.

The bridge was closed for the jump.

Wingsuit flying allows jumpers to glide horizontally at high speeds before landing on the ground using a parachute.

The Austrian skydivers’ flight lasted 45 seconds, with them diving down to 115ft (35m) above the River Thames, before soaring up through the air and releasing their parachutes.

Fürst said the journey was “intense from the beginning”, adding the experience was “incredible, a dream come true for sure”.

Waltenspiel added when they flew into London, “the sunrise was amazing, the city looked so good”.

‘Time to shine’

The pair, who are members of the Red Bull Skydive Team, have completed more than 22,000 jumps between them, including in Croatia’s heart-shaped island of Galesnjak and at a downhill ski run in Kitzbuhel, Austria. known as The Streif.

To prepare for their challenge, they completed more than 200 practice jumps and trained at a ground in Oxfordshire, which featured two cranes to simulate the dimensions of Tower Bridge.

The day before the jump, Fürst said he felt nervous excitement and found it hard to sleep, getting just “four to five hours”, but added: “Once we were in the helicopter, we prepared everything and we both knew, ‘OK, now it’s time to shine, right’, and everything was calm.”

“I just feel amazing. The jump was beautiful and everything worked out really good,” he said.

“I really enjoyed the journey.”

Waltenspiel added: “We are super happy, super stoked, everything went well and everyone is happy.”

Fürst explained the “pure freedom” of skydiving is what appeals to him, “because if you jump out of a helicopter, you can basically do what you want – you can fly to the left, to the right, up, down”.

A spokesperson for Red Bull said Tower Bridge was closed specifically for the jump, adding: “Red Bull worked closely with all the relevant authorities, had all authorisations in place for this world first and ensured that the jump was carried out to the highest safety standards.”

– BBC