Italian pilot Dario Costa clears Turkey’s Çatalca Tunnels in under 44 seconds.
Just after dawn on Saturday, September 4, 2021, professional race and stunt pilot Dario Costa of Italy wrote a new chapter in aviation history as he flew a race plane through the narrow confines of two enclosed auto tunnels just outside Istanbul. In near-darkness and closely surrounded by the concrete arc of the walls, Costa executed a tricky takeoff inside the first tunnel, flashed through an open-air gap, and then continued his 245 kph (152 mph) flight through the second tunnel, flying less than 1 m (3.2 feet) from the asphalt. Here’s a summary of the Tunnel Pass:
